Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

Today my family and I went to a place off from 69 HWY, heading East toward Joplin Missouri. It used to be called Zoomers Antiques, but it is now called Fenoglio Originals. This woman named Mary Fenoglio is an amazing artist and woman. She was critically injured in an automobile accident four years ago and had severe spinal damage, but is doing well today. She still suffers from the main trauma of it all and the secondary pain, but she is truly an inspiration to us all.

She asked me if I was an artist, I told her, "Well, yes, that I thought of myself as an artist", and she was such a warm and kind person once she knew that I was there to observe her wonderful pieces of art and the admiration I had for her dedication. She makes one of kind furniture from salvaged doors, old baby beds, old pieces of wood that were once left to rot in a pile to be burned, but she does amazing ensembles with them. She operates hand saws and table saws and makes incredible works of art. Many that I would love to say I have made. Of course, under the discretion of my parents. Maybe one day!!!?

She said she was having a bad day with her fibromyalgia and that people dismiss her composed art as a form of junk, and that is disheartening to her. Not her exact words, but she was hurt by their remarks. She was featured in Country Woman magazine, and it featured some of her pieces.

The inspiration and creativeness that must go into one piece of furniture is amazing. I told her I would love to come back and talk more to her that she was an inspiration to me. She was so relieved by my admiration and gave me a hug. She was such a fascination standing before me that I wanted her to know that I truly looked at her as an artist and I loved how she made the world beautiful by making old things new again. I left her a hand-drawn sketch as a random act of kindness and sent her a thank you for taking the time to show us her particular pieces of art. What an inspiration she could be to us all!!! She has overcome many obstacles and still has the composure to make it all work for her.