Origins of Folk Art

Art movements are usually associated with a specific school or group of academic artists who,
involved in the society, will lend their expertise and technical training in hopes of promoting their
current faction into the annals of art history.

Many of these campaigns were started centuries ago and were connected by some thread to a
preceding art movement. The artisans of these original camps brought with them various degrees
of formal art training; some even had the opportunity for additional training by apprenticing with
a current master.

This seemed to be the desired or required chain of protocol for all of the artists of the classical or
traditional movements who painted or sculpted for profit and recognition. Most of these camps
took place with in larger cities where many peers and colleagues would establish colonies, studios
and workshops with concentration on public exhibitions and sales.

When an artist did decide to break away from an active, established movement it was usually
done with the ambition of establishing a newer, more modern form of self-expression that would
hopefully become the next recognized art movement.

As these artisans diligently worked on mastering their chosen medium, there were many other
individuals living outside the main cities in rural areas that due to social, financial or personal
position, were unable or unwilling to partake in the strict stipulation imposed by the costly
academic training.

These people often referred to as Naive Artists, Outsiders or Naifs were actually to be more
closely related to the craftsman than professional artisans. Folk Artists did not usually subscribe
to any particular movement but instead chose to practice the styles and techniques that had been
passed down from one generation to the next and varied depending on their particular regions.

Folk Artists had very little if any, formal art training and opted to approach their subject matter in
a simple, non-scientific composition and perspective that is usually a literal interpretation of their
subject done in a flat, non-perspective style and entails the use of bright, energetic colors.

The origin of folk art can be traced back to the late 1700's and early 1800's when Rufus Hathaway
(1767-1825) would travel the countryside offering his skills as a portrait painter and furniture
decorator. However, it was not until after World War I that the true appreciation of American folk
art began.

Folk Art can actually be considered an umbrella term as it can define a diversity of mediums and
material used to express the artist's view. One such category encompasses any medium that can
be applied to canvas, paper, cardboard or any other paper by- products. This would include
mediums such as oils, tempra, watercolors, pencils and pastels.

Folk Sculpture, on the other hand defines any work actually created through the use of manual
construction such as carved headstones, painted and carved signs, weather vanes and ships
figureheads as well as other hand-made artifacts such as quilts. Regardless of the chosen
mediums and the techniques the one common bond among all of the folk artists was that all
works are to be created through a natural and simplistic technique.
For many years, folk artists were thought to be nomadic and untrained. In the earlier years of the
Folk Artists many of these people were either imprisoned or institutionalized for their emotional
challenges and had no formal art training what- so - ever and were not producing art for profit,
hence, they were not considered to be among the true artists.

Of course, in today's politically correct America, and the fact that people are no longer truly
isolated from society, many of the negative sounding terms have been abandoned. With the
exception of the second group that include such artists as Howard Finster (1916- 2003) and
Thornton Dial (1928-) who are noted for their use of a raw, almost childlike expression when
portraying their highly individual points of view and social standings.

Considered somewhat eccentric, these self-taught artists and sculptors are considered "outsiders"
or "isolates" only because their works are created outside the traditional techniques that are
generally associated with folk art, but none-the-less, have a positive impact on today's art.

The first and perhaps the most widely accepted category of folk art is that of memory painting.
These portrayals were done by the older, self-taught artists such Grandma Moses (1860-1961)
and Mattie Lou O'Kelley (1908-1997) who painted scenes of their earlier lives, that more than
likely carried an overture of ruralism and were done with simplicity. These artists had also opted
not to portray many of the twentieth-century changes that have occurred in both the transportation
and communications fields.

In the 21st Century, Folk Art is no less important today than it had been in the 1700 and 1800
hundreds. We continue to find evidence of folk art in quits, basketry, hand-made boxes and
carved, collectable signs.

Although, in today's market, folk art is not merely used as a form of self-expression, it is also
done with the intention of gaining profit from their sales. Antique stores, yard sales and estate
sales will often time have artifacts from the earlier Folk Artists for sale at nominal prices.

Who knows, maybe if you climb into that dusty old attic or sneak down into that musty aged
basement of your grandparents, you may find stashed in that old mildewing box an interesting
piece of American Folk Art.

Principles of Folk Arts

There are five basic principles of folk art whosoever must consider decorating a room so that the
result would be attractive. These are:
1- Proportion

2- Balance

3- Harmony

4- Rhythm

5- Emphasis

Let explain one by one to the above Art Principles.

1-Proportion:

The proportion principle is now and then called code of relations. It is an Arian principle that the
length and width of any place or thing should have 2:3. For instance, if a room is 12 feet wide the
length should be 18 feet. The color of room and the size of room have also profound relation with
each other. If a room is small then you can create spaciousness by light paint on walls. The color
on wall should match with other things color scheme. Suppose, if the color of walls is white or
off-white then cove of couch, curtain, carpet and other decoration pieces must have wanton color
scheme.

2- Balance:

It means to decorate the things together in such a way that their trivial sign should spellbinding.
We can divide balance in further two forms i.e. Formal and Informal. Informal Balance has more
nearness, freedom, the right of choice and variety while Formal Balance is reversed.

3- Harmony:

Harmony means unanimity which can be found in the following:

I. In form or line

II. In size or magnitude

III. In creation

IV. In the surface

V. In colors

To arrange the room or any thing under consider the above five elements, it can made eye-
catching. Unanimity means your creation aggregately striking and impressive.

4- Rhythm:

Rhythm means the movement of scene from one thing to another. Each movement is not pleasant
if you feel weariness and hindrance to watch the movement of one thing to another then its sign
could not be comfortable. When take a glance from one decoration to another in continuation then
it give comfort to heart and soul. On the other hand, if unable to create rhythm then the sign of
creation would not be symmetrical.

5- Emphasis:

It means to give central importance to anything. Such as to keep the things on a apparent place
which draw attention towards initially.
 Assignment
In
Mapeh I
Submitted by:
Cherry Anne Tamondong

Submitted to:
Mr. Jerome Estrada