Georgia Blizzard

Georgia Blizzard’s (1919-2002) work falls under the rubric of Outsider art. Outsider artists are commonly unaffected by, isolated from, and most importantly uninfluenced by Art as a grandiose identity. Many Outsider artists begin making work as adults, often after an illness or personal tragedy and such is the case with Georgia Blizzard who was born in Saltville, Virginia May 17, 1919. Her family moved to Plum Creek when she was a small child and she and her sister played along the creek. Too poor to have store-bought playthings, they learned to use the creek’s clay to make their dolls, dishes, animals and other toys.

During World War II Georgia Blizzard worked in a munitions factory, and later in a textile mill. In 1958 she became ill and had to have a lung removed. To help supplement the meager family income she and her sister made and sold Native American relics; Blizzard claimed Apache ancestry on her father's side. Finally, Georgia began to make her own pots, fired and colored with bark, leaves or mud. Her pieces were very personal often providing her with a way to free herself from private demons and sorrows. Her works frequently depicted local or family characters from her memory.

Georgia Blizzard produced less than 100 pots per year and is highly sought after by individuals and institutions interested in American folk and Outsider artists.

[Source: Museum Staff]