June 2013

Let's have a party, shall we?


Mark your calendars!  Cranberry Corners, Dahlonega's Most Eclectic Gift Shop, will be closed July 29 - August 1 for renovations, re-arranging and re-merchandising.  We'll open our doors 10 a.m August 2nd and will be celebrating all day with drinks, food, fun, friends and prizes.  Stop by, say hello to Kranberry Kathy - and a few surprise guests!  Check out our facebook page for the latest updates.  To join the Cranberry Corners email list, click here and enter 'add me to your email list' as the subject!
 
June 25, 2013

Black and white photos of Dahlonega?

 
Kranberry Kathy is doing a TOP SECRET project and needs your help asap!  Do you have old photographs of Dahlonega's town square?  Photos of Cranberry Corners, back when it was the post office?  Pictures of people shopping on the town square?  If you do, please send us a message with a jpeg of the image attached, bring the original by the store or heck - mail it in.  Thank you for your help!  What's the big secret Kranberry's working on?  You better like Cranberry Corners on facebook - we'll be making a big announcement soon!
 
June 17, 2013

North Georgia Folk Artist Billy Roper...

 
We recently spotted this painting while scrolling through facebook, and just had to share it.   A beautiful, bright angel painted by our friend North Georgia Artist Billy Roper.  From the biography on his website...
 
..."In describing himself, Appalachian folk artist Billy Roper says, 'I was born blessedly poor. We lived back in the hills where life was 50 years behind times. We didn't have much growing up, but what we had was more –– an honest, hardworking family.'
 
It's those years of weathering hardships throughout his life that have made him the artist he is today and that is reflected in his work. Art has always been a part of his life with his skills ranging from painting and drawing to sculpting marble and carving wood. Roper recalls, "There isn't a time I can remember when I didn't want to mark on something. I was the worst write-on-the-walls young'un that ever lived."
 
His work has emotional depth and speaks to people about the simple things in life –– the things that matter the most. The native of north Georgia is most known for his expressive style of painting that combines colorful imagery on the front with handwriting on the back to tell a story or depict an emotion. 

 

Billy Roper is simply Billy. He remembers his Appalachian roots, his Cherokee ancestors and their culture. Of them he says, "I was taught who I was and where I came from for countless generations. That does not make me better than or worse than, but it does make me – me."

 

Music has always been a strong part of Billy's life and that passion is shown in the nine months he spent painting a bass fiddle that was raffled off in April 2011 at the Bear on the Square Mountain Festival in Dahlonega, Ga. The project raised money to benefit the Georgia Pick & Bow Music School, an instructional music program that helps to ensure that Appalachian music is passed down to the next generation. 

 

His work can be found in art collections throughout the United States and more than 30 countries. He was North Georgia College & State University's first artist-in-residence in 2007 and the book, "Billy Roper: Visual Storyteller," was the first work published by the University Press of North Georgia."
June 11, 2013

Tags

Latest Posts

Another Happy Customer...
February 23, 2012
John Dahlstrom Opens Cranberry Corners Studio...
February 23, 2012
April 13, 2012