What do Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage and the Georgia Museum
of Art all have in common? They all love and own works by folk artist Elayne
Goodman.
Goodman didn’t always have a base of celebrity followers.
She came from humble beginnings, born in 1940 in Columbus, Mississippi. Growing
up on a farm outside Columbus, Goodman always had a knack for creating unique
object, but never considered her work “art” as she had never seen anything
similar to compare it to. She spent much of her adult life supporting her
family as a surgical nurse but soon returned to school to study her real
passion: art.
Goodman credits some aspects of her work to having been born
during the Great Depression. During this era, materials were limited, and
people had to work with what they had, an influence that continued even after
the US economy recovered. She continues to use anything available—wood,
fabrics, paint, buttons and beads—to make her art. She can take even the
simplest object and turn it into something colorful and intricate.
Today, she has created more than 3,000 works of art and
continues to make more. The Georgia Museum of Art is fortunate to have one of
her pieces, “American Flag,” detailed with buttons and beads and currently on
display on the Patsy Dudley Pate Balcony.
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