MISSIONARY MARY PROCTOR
We have to tip our hats here, to a good friend and Smithsonian Artist, Mary Proctor of Tallahassee FL. Sheila and I started collecting folk art back in the nineties, buying mainly on eBay. About 2002 we started going to the good folk art shows down south....FinsterFest in GA, WhoFest in GA and TN, Kentuck in AL and the grandaddy of them all Slotin's Folk Fest in Atlanta. We were thrilled to meet so many artists that we had only read about in the books. One of those that we'd heard about was this gal in Florida that was painting inspirational messages on doors. We finally met Miss Mary at Folk Fest and bought the first piece of hers for our collection. Sheila had decorated our bedroom in red, white and blue...she asked Mary what she had in R-W-B. She dug thru a truckload of paintings and brought out this piece.
That started a Mary Proctor collecting binge by Sheila...we have at least one piece of Mary's work in every room of our house....including a big door hanging on our living room wall.
Thru the years, Sheila and Mary became good friends, including hours on phone calls back and forth. Mary knew that I painted and asked Sheila what she did....she replied that all she could do was sell..(she ran our Nostalgia Store in the South Bend mall for 16 years). Mary said: "start a folk art gallery!" Sheila thought that would be impossible...folks around here don't understand the genre. Sheila also said that we needed a "name artist" to run an on-line gallery....Mary said: "you got me!" Sheila said we'd never get in the big show in Atlanta. We believe that Mary called Steve & Amy and got us in. It's nice to have friends in high places. We are appreciative to have a good working relationship with Mary and her husband, Tyrone....and to call them friends!
Last year Mary opened the American Folk Art Museum and Gallery in the Tallahassee Mall. Here's a video tour narrated by Mary. This year she added my artwork for sale in her gallery. If you get in her area it's a "must-see" attraction... and buy something of her's or mine.
Yes, we sell her Artwork, click to see what we have available right now - more coming soon!
Keep checking for new posts...
and tell others about us...Thanks!
You might like to know that Christie's Gallery in New York recently
(Jan & Sept 2014) sold two doors of Mary's doors for $6875.ºº EACH
(Hammer Price plus Buyers Premium)
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