Creator Record
Metadata
Name |
Lewis, Tim |
Notes |
Tim Lewis was born in Isonville, Kentucky in 1952 in the house his father had built two years earlier; it did not receive electricity until 1955. Growing up, Lewis had a favorite plot of land close to his father, where he dreamed of building a house. He eventually built that house on the hillside, making three generations of Lewis' that occupied the Isonville countryside. Lewis served in the army and after six years of traveling, returned home to do mining and logging work. It was an accident with a runaway logging truck that made Lewis rethink his line of work. The area of Kentucky Lewis resides in is rich with artists. He was influenced by his cousin, Minnie Adkins, a successful woodcarver, and his brother, Leroy, a furniture maker, and part-time carver. Lewis began carving canes from root ends of small trees and embellishing them with painted faces and figures. He soon graduated to carving stone. He bought a chisel hammer in 1988 which he still uses. In recent years, he has developed arthritis and he has to supplement his work with an automatic chisel hammer. Lewis' work can be found in many important collections such as the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, The Huntington Museum (West Virginia), Columbus Museum of Art (Ohio), and the High Museum of Art (Atlanta, Georgia). He was awarded 'Artist of the Year' in 2007 by the Folk Art Society of America. |
Nationality |
American |
Occupation |
Coal miner, well digger, logger, stone and wood carver |
