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Small
Town Zen
Being aware of what’s in your own front yard
Number 2:
Naivete
in Florala, Alabamaby
Johnny Stucco |
Woodie
paint a mural? We’ll bet he would.
Florala is one of those places like
Texarkana that straddles
state lines and has a name cobbled together from both hosts. In the unlikely event
you are ever asked where Florala is, you can answer “It’s just a stone’s throw
from the highest elevation in Florida.*”
The two states involved here even share a Lake (Lake Jackson), but Florala’s downtown
is firmly inside Alabama territory and downtown is where you will find the murals
painted by the artist simply known as Woodie.
World-famous naïve artist
“Grandma” Moses and French painter Henri Rousseau (how do you say naïve in French?)
may currently be more famous than Woodie, but that may change. Our attempts at
contacting the Florala chamber met with a message recorded in that warm Alabama
lilt. |
Woodie's
"Plowman with Mule"
TE photo, January 2011 |
| The simple bold colors
painted on panels are starting to fade, so it was decided to make them (at least
these two) the second entry in Small Town Zen. In the first mural a plowman
is shown with his mule. Judging by his straight legs, the mule is giving it his
all, allowing the plowman to relax his arms. Four birds fly overhead, attempting
to steal seed (if the tiller man is planting), or feast on exposed insects (if
the furrows are just being made ready). Or perhaps the birds are vultures waiting
for the plowman to drop dead. As art, it’s open to interpretation. |
"Kites"
TE
photo, January 2011 |
The second sample
of Woodie’s work appears to be a synchronized kite-flying exhibition with five
bowlegged Floralan boys and five Floralan girls taking part. Synchronized kite
flying, although not yet an Olympic sport, is not as easy as it looks here. Easily
visible from Florala’s main thoroughfare, “Kites” is installed on a building just
1,250 feet north of the Florida state line. The white fence panels are not part
of the mural.
Florala may be a little off the beaten path, but it’s a
charming town with several interesting 19th Century buildings. One of these is
the town's old bank which now houses city offices and the chamber. Florala may
soon become known as the place where Woodie got his start. If anyone has information
on the artist, we’d enjoy sharing it with our readers.
Please send to my boss at editor@texasescapes.com with Florala, Alabama in the
subject line.
©
J. Stucco
March 2011
*Lakewood,
Florida, aka Britton Hill is officially the highest elevation in Florida. Among
all of the high points in the U.S., Britton Hill is the “lowest high point” which
sounds a bit like being the world’s shortest tall person.
See Small
Town Zen | Murals in Texas
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