A friend of mine, Allison, recently saw this adorable children's book about the quilts of Gee's Bend and passed it along to me. I ordered it on Amazon and while I was at it, decided it was high time I got myself a book Gee's Bend anyway.
All I can say is wow. I spent last night reading the first chapter of this gorgeous coffee-table quality book. I kept reading parts of it aloud to Jay and he kept saying in his producer way - "someone needs to make a good movie about this!" I made him promise to read that first chapter himself.
I fell asleep with the book on my lap, and literally was dreaming about quilts.
Knowing my soft spot for African American history and culture along with my passion for fine art and quilting - of course this is a great fit for me - but I have to say, I'd recommend this book to anyone who is moved by art or the power of the creative human spirit. I was inspired powerfully and literally challenged in my paradigms of what freedom I allow myself to have as I create. As I'm going through my day today, I can't stop thinking about this enclave of master artists living and working together in abject poverty, albeit happy!... undiscovered for decades.
There are pages scattered throughout the book which have artistic photos of the scenery around Gee's Bend- I literally wanted to turn about 10 of those into quilts.
This book is amazing. I didn't even bother getting out my sewing last night - RARE! - because I just wanted to read more.
I have to say, it's the best $30 I've spent on a book in years. I can't wait to read more tonight.
