A-12 • OCTOBER 8, 2014 • Shopper news
Inspired design
Leslie Testerman and Angie McKamy examine Knoxville Garden Club member Melissa McAdams’ floral design based on Amy Pleasant’s painting “When Ruby Met Jim, Part I and II.” Her design won a second place, a curator’s award and the Dorothy Victor Munger award.
Art museum is muse for garden club members By Wendy Smith Claude Monet, Georgia O’Keeffe and even Andy Warhol found inspiration for their art in flowers. Last week, designers from across the country demonstrated how art can, likewise, be an inspiration for floral design. The Knoxville Garden Club hosted a Garden Clubs of America Flower Show titled “Frame of Reference: Creative Inspiration from the Collections of the Knoxville Museum of Art” last week at the museum. Floral designs were inspired by Richard Jolley’s “Cycle of Life” sculpture, the miniature dioramas in the Thorne Rooms and the contemporary art of the KMA’s Currents exhibition. The photography division also gave a nod to Jolley’s work, as did the botanical arts division, which was also influenced by the Higher Ground exhibition and a temporary exhibition of Danny Lyon photography. Thirty-five accredited GCA judges came from across the country to judge the show, which also included horticulture entries. They awarded first, second and third places in each division except horticulture, explained KGC flower show committee chair Georganne Guarino. While creativity is valued in floral design, photography and botanical arts divisions, there’s just one standard for horticulture entries − perfection. Each flower, leaf and tree branch is expected to be flawless. If a class has
no perfect specimen, no ribbons are awarded. One of the things Guarino likes about the photography and botanical arts categories is that they allow garden club members who can’t travel to participate by mailing their entries. She also appreciates that botanical arts entries can be composed of recycled floral arrangements. Entries included picture frames, brooches and walking sticks made entirely of plant material. Guarino is a flower-show veteran who is working on becoming an accredited judge. The process takes five years. “You can get a
A walking stick designed by Knoxville Garden Club member Karen Smith won a second-place ribbon.
doctorate faster,” she said. She’s also a talented designer. After the other entrants had chosen, she picked the last remaining work of art, Ulf Puder’s “Baustopp, 2010,” as the inspiration for her floral design, which won best in show. She wasn’t sure how she would interpret the artwork until she saw readymade frames in a craft store that echoed the lines of the bridge in the painting. She chose cactus as her floral element because it was the right color. To add another layer of judging, KMA staff − assistant curator Clark Gillespie, preparator Robmat
Photos by Wendy Smith
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the photography division. The hardest part of judging is setting aside personal tastes in color and design in order to be unbiased. “You have to leave everything behind at the door,” she said.
Storyteller introduces tales of Knoxville By Wendy Smith
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category, museum staff recognized Melissa McAdams’ rendition of “When Ruby Met Jim, Part I and II” by Amy Pleasant, which was awarded second place by GCA judges. Gay Estes of Houston flew to Knoxville to judge
Now that the air is cooling and the leaves are warming, it’s the season for telling tales − p r e f e r a bl y the creepy kind. KnoxvilLaura Still lian Laura Still is up to the task. She told the social club Welcome Wagon that storytelling is in her blood, which led her to start Knoxville Walking Tours. She saw an opportunity when she worked at the Knoxville Visitors Center and heard tourists asking if anyone was available to walk around and tell stories about the city. When her friend Jack Neely offered to let her use his historical research, she was on her way. She offers Civil War, Gunslinger and Literary Heritage tours, not to men-
tion the Shadow Side Ghost Tour. Her new book, “A Haunted History of Knoxville,” rolled off the presses last week. Welcome Wagon members urged her to share a tale from the book, so she told the story of her favorite ghost − Abner Baker. He was the son of Dr. Harvey Baker, who lived in what is now known as the Baker-Peters house at the corner of Peters Road and Kingston Pike. As slaveholding landowners, the Bakers were secessionists, and Abner joined the Confederate Army. While he was away, a Union scouting party approached the home and began firing at Dr. Baker, who tried in vain to surrender. He was shot inside his home in front of his wife and children. When Abner returned from war, he found his home in a shambles. He went downtown and got into a fight that resulted in the death of a Unionist, Will
Hall. He was immediately escorted to jail, but a mob of Union supporters pulled him out and hanged him from a tree on the bank of the Tennessee River. It is rumored that Abner still makes his presence known at the Baker-Peters House, and he is said to lurk around the graveyard at First Presbyterian Church on State Street, where he is buried. Still says she’s given tours to visitors from around the world. “We have a great and very walkable downtown.” Info: www.knoxvillewalkingtours.com ■
Free concerts on Market Square
During October, visit Market Square for a free concert each Thursday. Concerts begin at 7 p.m., and free parking is available at city garages after 6 p.m. Grab dinner at a nearby restaurant, then head to the Square with a chair to enjoy these fine acts.