Miss LV Hull's House Now

Posted by ginger On Tuesday, March 17, 2009

We went to Kosciusko to check on Miss L.V. Hull's house - she passed away in April of last year -  and we wanted to see how her house/yard/environment was doing now that she is gone.


I got in touch with someone at the Kosciusko paper that told me that really nothing was happening with her home one way or the other, but that they were hoping that some of her art might become an exhibit at one of the welcome centers.

We pulled up in front of the house (it's at 123 Allen Street, close to the cemetery), and it just felt as though all the bright colors that were Miss L.V. Hull have sort-of gone with her, which is really sad.  I wish I could find the pics that Av and I took seven or eight years ago when we first visited (those were with a non-digital camera so it would take a little looking to find them) - everything was so vibrant and cheerful!  It made you smile just to look at it all.

Here's how her home looks now: 

If you're wondering, it was all jumbled-up before too, but in a happy way:


She liked putting shoes on stakes, or having "shoe trees":

There was nothing she would not paint.



I didn't realize this before, but in 2001, Yaphet Smith (who was part of the Sundance Film Screenwriters Lab in 2002) shot his first documentary called "Dots & Dashes: The Artist L.V." which was of course about Miss L.V. Hull.  On the Sundance site, they explain: 
The film examines the use of imagination by artist and family friend L.V. Hull in her efforts to cope with the loss of her infant son. 
Everything I've read before said that she started painting in 1975 for no particular reason - I hadn't seen that it was due to her son's passing.  Bless her heart.

(((Yaphet: if you find this post via Google, please email me at: ginger AT deepfriedkudzu ---DOT--- com and let me know how I can get a copy of the documentary)))




In this picture, the spindle with the squiggles and the thing behind with dots and dashes (hence the documentary title) - that was really her "signature" way of painting things:

Tire towers:

Here at home, we have a shoe that she painted several years ago:

Here's a short film of her and her home:


Lots of other nice pics of Miss L.V.'s home and yard are here and H.C. Porter has a 37" x 60" acrylic silkscreen and prismacolor of her that is really great here.  

I'll keep checking and see what is going to be done to preserve her art/environment.  Hopefully the city will stay on top of things - they had been promoting her home in their tourism literature when she was alive (hear that, Huntsville - embrace your art environments!!).  

When Loy Bowlin, the 'Original Rhinestone Cowboy' passed away, somehow things happened in McComb, Mississippi and they weren't able to keep things together - eventually his home was actually brought up to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Kohler, Wisconsin as an exhibit.  It's still there.  As much as the Kohler Foundation should be commended for helping, like with the Kenny Hill Sculpture Garden especially, surely we can do something to keep and maintain Miss L.V.'s cheerful art environment/home.  Hope so!

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