Emily Mattie Lou O’Kelley (1908-1989) was born in Banks County, Georgia and grew up on a farm in the rural community of Maysville as the seventh of eight children. As a girl, she helped around the house and farm by quilting blankets and canning vegetables, among other chores. Mattie attended school only into the ninth grade because she was needed more at home. She never married, but rather lived a quiet, even reclusive, life after the death of her parents. Over the years of her life she worked at a variety of jobs. She was a seamstress, a cafeteria cook, and later a worker in a mop yarn mill. At the age of 50, Mattie retired from the mill and four years later ordered canvas and oils from the Sears and Roebuck Catalog. Her paintings have brought her both national and international recognition. Her subjects center on the life she lived and commemorate the nostalgic scenes of her childhood.
Artist Mattie Lou O’Kelley is entirely self-taught. Unlike most famous artists who study under prestigious masters or at universities, Mattie received no formal training at all. This along with her style and subjects in painting is what classify her so decidedly as a folk artist. She is considered by critics and art experts as both a landscape artist and a memory painter.
Her paintings tell the story of her birth, childhood games, the work on the farm, and the many celebrations and festivities of rural Georgia. Through her paintings we witness the joys and sorrows of her life and feel the inevitable passing of the seasons. She illustrated the meaning, purposefulness, simplicity and beauty of her life.
Cotton Ginning Time: http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo...
Lillie’s Pound Supper: http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo...
Sundown on the Snow: http://www2.gasou.edu/art/betty/okelley....
Farm Scene: http://nmaa-ryder.si.edu/t2go/1fa/1998.8...
In 1974, Mattie presented her paintings to the director at the High Museum of Atlanta. He offered to display them in the museum shop. Once her work came to the attention of collectors and critics, she became a popular subject in newspaper articles and periodicals.
In 1976, she received a special Georgia Governor’s Award in Arts and in June of 1980, a painting by Mattie Lou O’Kelley was featured on the cover of Life Magazine.
Mattie herself published five books:
Moving to Town! by Mattie Lou O’Kelley
Circus! by Mattie Lou O’Kelley
From the Hills of Georgia: An Autobiography in Paintings by Mattie Lou O’Kelley
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Tricia Dake's Famous Artists topic, please visit the Discussions page.