Ringgold Gap Festival and Art Exhibit, Oct 2 & 3

Confederate Money Only, General Grant

Oil on Canvas

On Friday, October 2 and Saturday, October 3, a festival celebrating Gen. Cleburne, a confederate civil war leader will take place at the Ringgold Confederate Park on 41 south. A bronze statue will be dedicated to him at 10:00 am Saturday.

The festival includes historical lectures, music, vendors, and living history camps with artillery demonstrations. Go to: www.ringgoldgapfestival.com for more information about the weekend and an article about Gen. Cleburne written by Dr. Smith Murray. You will get the background of why he is being honored and what happened here in 1863.

As part of the festival, an art exhibit will take place inside the historic Ringgold Depot. Raye Brooks, owner of Ringgold Art and Frame Gallery, invited several local artists to participate. I chose the Whitman house in Ringgold and using the information on the historic marker, portrayed the scene when Gen. Grant is offering to pay Mrs. Whitman for his lodging there after the battle of Ringgold Gap. She refuses his Greenbacks and asked for Confederate money instead. He turned to his men and said, "She isn't whipped yet."

What appealed to me was the fact that since Grant later became our president, he did act as a gentleman. And, Mrs. Whitman showed him how feisty a southern lady can be. Sounds like they had mutual respect for each other. Fortunately, the Whitman house was not burned by Sherman on his way to Savannah. This is unusual for me to paint a historical work. The first was Polo at the Fort that I did for the Sixth Cavalry Museum in Ft. Oglethorpe (www.6thcavalrymuseum.com) Using composite resources and researching is a lot of work. Of course it comes down to the artist's interpretation.

Participating in the show are some of my Studio artists: Ann Currey, Martha Elder, L.J. Huffaker, Betty Moses, Barbara Murray, and Wendy Williams.

Since Ann Currey and I will be flying back from the workshop in Italy that Friday night, I hope to be conscious and coherent enough to come to the festival Saturday. I hope that you will be able to support the festival and see the local artwork in the depot.

Artfully yours,

Durinda