Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Cotton fields and whirligigs

Every year about this time you can drive the countryside here in the south and see beautiful white puffs of cotton.



As far as you can see, it's white like snow.




We had family visiting us from Pennsylvania (Galen's cousin and wife), so we took a drive in the country to see the cotton.



Of course, it's very common down here for out-of-towners to stop along the road and snip a cotton boll or two and take it with them. Just a couple of snips.






~~~~~~~~~
We continued along, meandering the back roads until we came to the Vollis Simpson's "wHiRliGigs" ~ an attraction you must see if you're in Wilson County. Vollis is our local folkartist. His works are displayed locally and also at The North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC, The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, MD, and inner harbor.


We were fortunate that day to find him working in his shop.



He showed us his new piece and some other things he's been working on.


He left us go in the back part of the building to look at all of his other works.



Truly amazing!


And outside are these huge pieces.



He has more than 30 works erected on his property.




And would you believe they all come out of this small shop of his (below) nestled in the tall Carolina pines.

It was a beautiful fall day. The perfect day to do a bit of site seeing in the country.

7 comments:

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

I love driving by the cotton fields! Look at those Whirligigs!!! Way cool.

The Painted Garden said...

Hi Donna,

Oh my goodness- the cotton fields make me homesick for beautiful North Carolina. The Whirligigis are magical - what a fun place to visit.
Have a lovely week.
Blessings,
Erin

Zuzana said...

I recall cotton fields! Wow, where did the time go...
Love all the pictures glad you had fun.;)
xoxo

Sheila said...

Dear Donna,
I remember many years ago on my first trip South, seeing cotton fields. I was like a kid at Christmas, I was so delighted. I didn't think to snip one, maybe next time.
;o)
The work that man does is amazing. I wouldn't know where to look first. It just shows you don't need a huge studio filled with expensive materials to produce art, especially when it comes from the heart. Lovely post.
big hugs
xx

Donna said...

What a beautiful country road!! Haven't seen a decent crop of cotton here in a while!!hughugs

Peonies & Magnolias said...

The cotton fields look great but I love those whirligigs. His work is fantastic.

Sandy

Sherri said...

I love when the cotton is ready to be picked. When we moved here to Charlotte a little over 5 yrs. ago we were amazed at the fields in the next county-it looks like snow!
Wow, that was a whole lot of whirligigs!!