Last week my six year old daughter and I visited one of our favorite places, the Waterfront Park here in Louisville. As always, we spent time with the Flock of Finns - the flock of Marvin Finn (1913 - 2007), an internationally known folk artist from Louisville. Strolling among these colorful birds and thinking about Marvin always inspires me.
Quotes from Marvin Finn:
"I didn't learn this out of no book. I had to leave school in the first grade and go to the field to work. But I had a hobby of drawing and painting, and I could whittle and build. And I had my imagination."
"There were ten boys and two girls in my family, and most of them older than I was, so I didn't have toys except I made them,"
"I just do what my mind tells me to do. Maybe the good Lord plants these things in my mind. When I leave here and meet the good Lord, I ain’t never going to quit making toys. That’s what my mind tells me. That’s heaven to me. . . making toys . . and I look forward to it all the time.” - Marvin Finn.
(These quotes are from the Marvin Finn Website which has further information about Marvin Finn and the Public Art Project that made the Flock of Finns a reality.)
If you start close up, you'll see patterns against patterns....