Author Description

A piece of folk art is a thing of beauty created or originated, generally, by an unknown artist. America is full of examples of folk art. There are baskets, corn-husk dolls, scrimshaw, stenciled decorations, movies, tap-dancing, and any number of others. Sometimes the maker is known, Sometimes he is not. But in each case he has followed an old skill to create a new beauty, not as conscious, but as unconscious art. For each of the folk arts presented here, the Kinneys have told who practiced the art and when and where and sometimes why. There are pictures of good examples of the craft. Then there are instructions for creating similar versions, sometimes in much the same way the old ones were made, sometimes using materials and techniques the old makers did not have.