Work by Carolyn Shores Wright at the Fayette Art Museum

Last summer my brother Richard and I made a day trip to Fayette. I've written about the town in northeast Alabama here. Our main purpose was a visit to the Fayette Art Museum. We had previously corresponded with Anne Perry, the director, who had expressed interest in having some of mom's artwork in the museum. She kindly gave us a tour, and I wrote specifically about the museum here. Richard and I were impressed with the collection of some 5000 pieces which includes works by well-known Alabama artists such as Lois Wilson, Jimmy Lee Sudduth and many others. That collection fills display areas on two floors, with much more in storage. 

Since that visit the family has donated a number of mostly watercolor originals to the museum. On April 26 a reception was held at the museum to announce the opening of a gallery devoted to mom's art. Dianne and I were able to attend and met the city's mayor and his wife and current and former museum board members. We enjoyed refreshments, and the drive to the museum and back to Pelham took us through some wonderful undeveloped countryside in northeast Alabama.

We know mom would be very pleased to have her work in this museum in the company of its wide range of artists. More comments are  below. 

As I described in the previous piece about the museum, the Fayette Civic Center and Art Museum are located in a former elementary school that opened in 1930. The facility is used for many different events from concerts to wedding receptions, all in the midst of art displays everywhere.

This creation guarding the front entrance is one of several frogs around town created by local artists. in this case Deborah Hill in 2021. 

We were greeted by a nice display featuring one of mom's floral paintings in oil. She worked in that medium for some years in the 1970s, but she was so prolific she wanted something that dried faster. She tried acrylics, but soon took up watercolor for good. 

One of her favorite subjects was birds, and she painted many. On the left is what she called an enhanced mat, one on which she painted something decorative on the mat.

On the left is "On the Green" one of her "Bird Life" series of humorous bird paintings. On the right is one of her many hummingbird paintings. 

In the 1990s the Franklin Mint issued two series of six plates each featuring mom's bird and bird house paintings. Here are four; below are two of the original paintings.

AMIA Studios specialized in stained glass items, from larger wall hangings such as the one below to smaller pieces. The original painting is above. The company celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019, but no longer seems to be in business. AMIA also issued suncatchers, candle holders and similar items featuring mom's work. 

Jack Black was a newspaperman in Fayette and was instrumental along with the city council in founding the museum in 1969. He served as director for 15 years. 

Some of mom's work was featured in the museum's Christmas festival in December. Two of her many holiday paintings hang on the left.

The oil painting of two owls is the largest work of mom's we've ever seen. Through a fortuitous series of events, we purchased the painting in September 2023 from an estate sale in Huntsville. The work had been purchased from mom at an art show in the 1970s and hung in a home all those years just a few miles from mom and dad's house. 

Work by Carolyn Shores Wright can be purchased as prints, greeting cards and on many other products at Fine Art America. 

Carolyn Shores Wright, 1929-2023

I've done several posts on this blog about my mother Carolyn Shores Wright and her activities. One item covered her high school modeling stint for Avondale Mills. Her career as a professional artist, mostly in watercolor, lasted almost fifty years. I've written about the time she heard George Washington Carver speak in Camp Hill when she was seven years old. I've also covered the 1950 Auburn football game my parents attended soon after their wedding, and a bit about the Jefferson County town where she was born, Powhatan. 

Mom died on January 17, so I wanted to do a tribute to her on this blog. I've included the text of her obituary, since it covers the highlights. Also in this post are some photos of her and family and some images of her art to give an idea of the variety of subjects she painted. 

More comments are below some of the photos and images. 

Carolyn Shores Wright December 28, 1929-January 17, 2023 

Carolyn Shores Wright, 93, of Huntsville, AL passed away peacefully at home Tuesday, January 17. She was born in Powhatan, a west Jefferson County coal mining town that no longer exists. Carolyn and her siblings were the children of  long-time Methodist minister John Miller Shores, and they lived in various towns including Camp Hill, Florence, Sylacauga, Alex City, and Montevallo. One of her vivid memories from childhood was hearing George Washington Carver speak in Camp Hill when she was about 7 years old. During high school, Carolyn was a model for Avondale Mills. She attended college at Montevallo and Auburn, where she met her husband  of 52 years, A.J. The passions of her adult life were family, her church and her painting. She and A.J. were founding members of Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Huntsville. For about fifty years Carolyn was a very prolific artist, first in oils, then acrylics, and finally “her medium” as she described it, watercolors. During those years she created hundreds of works that featured hummingbirds and many other birds, flowers, still lifes, landscapes, people and a series of humorous and whimsical bird paintings she called “Bird Life.” Carolyn was preceded in death by husband Amos Jasper Wright, Jr.; her mother Tempe Flowers Shores and father John Miller Shores; step-mother Edith Shores; sister Hethie Shores Kuehlthau; sister Marjorie Shores Pike; and brother John Miller Shores, Jr. She is survived by her sons Amos Jasper Wright III [Dianne] and Richard Ashley Wright [Lucy]; brother Max Shores [Cindy]; grandchildren Amos Jasper Wright IV [Kim], Ashley T. Wright [Jessica], Becca Wright; and Miller S. Wright [Kathyrn]; and great-grandchildren Ann Collins Wright, Ashley McDonald Wright, and Ezra Jasper Leon. Also surviving are two special nieces Charlotte Shores Ryder [Curtis] and Cindi Shores Sherrill, as well as many other nieces and nephews. Visitation will be held Saturday, February 4, at 11 A.M. at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Huntsville, with service to follow at noon. Internment will be in Maple Hill Cemetery in a private family service. In lieu of flowers memorials to Aldersgate United Methodist Church (Honduran Mission) or the Alabama Sheriffs Youth Ranches would be appreciated.

Mom is between sisters Marjorie and Hethie and with brother John.

Mom again in the middle between Marjorie and Hethie many years earlier. 

My grandmother Tempe Flowers Shores and her children. Hethie is standing, then Marjorie, mom and John. 

Mom and dad are flanking my paternal grandparents at their house on Chandler Street in Gadsden. Richard and I are on the floor. I'm really excited over the white socks I'm wearing. The occasion was the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Rosa Mae and Amos Wright; they were married on Halloween 1915. 

Dad and mom on a Christmas trip to Gatlinburg. 

Mom's parents and siblings are in this photo; mom wasn't around yet. Her father John Miller Shores was a minister in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church for several decades. 

Dad and mom and the wedding cake at the First Methodist Church in Haleyville, 10 September 1950. 

Mom and my children, Becca and Amos

Mom with my younger brother Richard and his sons Ashley and Miller. Mom was in her red hair phase; the red hat phase came later. 

A formal family portrait in the late 1950's. Mom always wanted me to digitize this photo and take her out; she was not fond of the hairdo. 

Yours truly, mom and brother Richard on the steps of our house on Cloverdale Drive in Huntsville in the mid-1950s. The three of us revisited the house in July 2018. 

Richard and mom walking toward dad's grave in Maple Hill Cemetery. That spring 2022 visit was the last time we took her there. 

"Spring Fantasy"

"Fancy Flight"

"A Brother's Trick"
Mom said this painting was suggested by her brother John--he would roller skate really fast up to his sisters and turn away just in time...

"Holiday Cruise"

Mom did a number of paintings in what she called her "Bird Life" series that featured birds in human situations. You can see more of them here.

You can see many more of her paintings at her Etsy and Fine Art America shops. 

Mom's Art & AMIA Stained Glass

In January 2018 I posted an item on this blog entitled "My Mother the Artist." I discussed her career as a watercolor artist that has continued for more than five decades. Carolyn Shores Wright turned 89 this past December and continues to paint.

Over the years mom's art has been licensed for many items, ranging from prints and greeting cards to coasters and trivets. One of the companies licensing her work is AMIA, which has manufactured hand-painted glass gifts since 1995. The products are made in Hong Kong; mom's samples have been shipped to her directly from there. 

The Collector's Addition is a distributor that carries new and many retired AMIA products. Amazon and WalMart also offer many of them. Unfortunately, none of these sites seem to easily identify the artist for each piece. For Amazon and Wal-Mart, use the search string "amia stained glass carolyn shores wright" and you will find many of them. 

You can find mom's art on ArtFire, Etsy, Fine Art America and Pinterest. You can follow her on Twitter @CShoresInc and Facebook as CShoresInc.

Below are photographs of some of the AMIA items created from mom's work. Most of these were included in a recent shipment.

In April 2017 we made a trip to Colorado Springs. One day we visited the nearby town of Manitou Springs, which has lots of interesting restaurants and gift shops. In one of the latter we found this AMIA item of mom's for sale. I've written about that trip in a blog post here.

This piece and the one below are the two largest AMIA items. They are both VERY large compared to all the others!