Initially I had a more serious art feature planned for the first Sunday Art Review post of 2009. Then I decided that we need to lighten things up a bit and have some fun. A bit of Dolly Parton usually brings a smile to my face, which was the inspiration for this week's Sunday Art Review: Dolly Art! Whether you like her music or not, Dolly Parton has a colorful personality and larger-than-life persona (among other things). From the very beginning she established a unique look that she has leveraged to the hilt. When speaking of her looks, she has said: "You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap", a nod to the over-the-top image she carefully crafted over the years. Other than photos and album covers, there isn't a lot of "Dolly Art" floating around the web, but I did manage to dig up these fun images. I led off with the Dolly Pop Art (above). Here are a few other interesting pieces: 
above: Would you believe, this is made of seeds and corn husks?
above: a caricature by artist Don Pinsent.
above: I call this Yellow Dolly
above: This is an image of Dolly painted on the nose of the 134th Air Fueling Wing of the Air National Guard
above: an interesting image by Angel Rodriguez Lopez
I found these "fast facts about Dolly Parton on the cbs news website:
* Dolly Rebecca Parton was born in 1946, the fourth of 12 children, in a cabin with no electricity or indoor plumbing, in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in east Tennessee.
* She has sold more than 100 million records.
* She has two theme parks (Dollywood and Dollywood's Splash Country), her own recording company, and a chain of "Dixie Stampede" dinner theaters.
* She was the first of her family to graduate from high school.
* Parton has written about 3,000 songs; she says she has been writing songs since she was 7 years old.
* She has appeared in movies including "Nine to Five," "Steel Magnolias", "Rhinestone", 'Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and "Straight Talk"
* She has been married for nearly 40 years to Carl Dean, a construction worker.
* She has sold more than 100 million records.
* She has two theme parks (Dollywood and Dollywood's Splash Country), her own recording company, and a chain of "Dixie Stampede" dinner theaters.
* She was the first of her family to graduate from high school.
* Parton has written about 3,000 songs; she says she has been writing songs since she was 7 years old.
* She has appeared in movies including "Nine to Five," "Steel Magnolias", "Rhinestone", 'Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and "Straight Talk"
* She has been married for nearly 40 years to Carl Dean, a construction worker.
I hope you enjoyed today's Sunday Art Review. It may not be a great deal of "serious" art, but it sure is fun. And besides, I'm not a professional art critic anyway.
-Rick Rockhill
Wow! The one made of seeds and corn husks is amazing!
ReplyDeleteI pass by Dolly's house on the way to my brother's place... She has a beautiful home on several acres in one of Nashville's nicer burbs...
ReplyDeleteFrom what I hear she's a wonderful lady. I know she and the governor teamed up for a big literacy project in TN. It provides free books for TN children...it's called the Books from Birth program.
i triple LOVE dolly but dollywood, not so much... i always wondered about that marriage too... just sayin'.
ReplyDeletesmiles, bee
xoxoxoxoxoxooxxoxo
That Dolly is one smart cookie to have made such an 'industry' out of herself. More power to her...and I love her sense of humor!
ReplyDeleteI have substantial respect for Dolly and I have always loved her music. She is quite a lady.
ReplyDeleteI cannot say I am a bog fan of Ms. Parton's but I do appreciate that she is an extremely talented person....
ReplyDeleteI always LOVE the "Warhol" like images of "stars"....He set the Bar, and peopler have been imitating it ever since....!
I never liked her that much, but I respect the fact that despite being so famous, even a legend, she is not part of the gossip and scandal circuit, and yet everyone knows who she is, AND she is still so down to earth.
ReplyDeleteMy father was once in Las Vegas staying at Caesar's Palace when he came upon a knot of excited people and cameras. In the middle of it all he caught a glimpse of this diminutive diva and told me how surprised he was to see how tiny she really is.
You know me - - I love my Dolly!!! Dolly art? I'm SO in!
ReplyDeleteDolly met her husband, Carl Dean, her first day in Nashville. She washing her clothes in the Wishy Washy laundromat, was standing outside and Carl Dean drove by. As Dolly says, "It's been Wishy Washy ever since." :)
I like the seeds and cornhusks!
ReplyDeleteI love the diverse selections you have for your art reviews-in my opinion, it's what art is all about-making the audience feel something. It doesn't all have to be serious!
ReplyDeleteI loved this choice. Dolly is one of the true ladies of country music and an accomplished songwriter. All the images you found of her are great. I love your art choices each Sunday. Look forward to reading them! Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDolly is a legend. Plain and simple.
ReplyDelete