Storyteller, artist chooses simple comfort food
If you love a homegrown story that takes you back to your Arkansas childhood, you probably already know the voice of Sandra Spotts.
“I have written for my own pleasure since childhood, but began writing stories [to share] when my father died at age 94,” Spotts begins her tale. “He told us bedtime stories about what he knew — his growing-up years in Lawrence County, Arkansas. I cherish those stories today and wanted to tell my stories about growing up with him.”
That’s how Spotts — who has appeared on the National Public Radio program “Tales From the South” — came up with “Homegrown Tales,” a live storytelling evening that started in the fall of 2019 at Brews in Eureka Springs. It filled the coffee house, was recorded for broadcast on a local radio station and was a big hit with her cohost, artist and author Zeek Taylor, and guests as well known as food guru Crescent Dragonwagon.
And then came the pandemic. And Spotts found herself returning to her first love — the visual arts — specifically abstract expressionist acrylic and mixed media paintings, which she shows at Curated in Eureka Springs and at The Showroom in Little Rock.
Spotts says her love of writing and storytelling influences her mixed media painting style, in which she often incorporates fragments of letters, books and other found objects and original prose.
“The first art that I remember being fascinated by was Art Nouveau illustrations in an old book of fairy tales that had been left behind by the former owners of our home in Little Rock,” she remembers. “At a very early age, I recognized the intricacies and the elegance of those drawings.
“My artistic journey started in second grade when I found myself surrounded by classmates wanting me to draw a version of my ‘fancy lady’ for them. The attention was heady stuff for a very shy 6-year-old! I never looked back.”
Spotts now lives in Eureka Springs with her 17-year-old cat, Gracie Mae, and occasionally ventures into her kitchen to make dishes like this Slow Cooker Ranch Chicken. She hopes she and Taylor will be able to bring “Homegrown Tales” back in the spring.
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