What is Art? BBB's art galary about Tramp Art

15 years ago, when I lived in California, I spent two years creating an internet Art Gallery Named "What Is Art?" I wanted something different and presented all sorts of art that we would rarely consider all of the different types of art and artists. I not only showed the art itself, I also wrote the history and how to create the art for each of them. For example, the needle work of young girls and older women throughout hundreds of years, the weaving and fabric making of these women, the discovered art of ancient artists and on and on. One of my projects was the discovery of Tramp Art. I thought you might be interested in learning more about Tramp Art. Here are some examples but you can find your own samples. BBB

https://www.google.com/search?q=tramp+artists&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=0bcVT8DTCqiViALAnqjdDQ&sqi=2&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=759&bih=377

http://www.designsponge.com/2010/08/past-present-tramp-art-restoration-project.html

Tramp Art

Tramp Art was a popular form of folk art that flourished in America from the 1870's to the 1940's. It took many forms, mostly functional but some purely aesthetic: its creators notched, layered, and whittled picture frames, elaborate boxes, and even full-sized furniture pieces. The most common materials for making tramp art were cigar boxes and wood from disassembled crates.

The term "tramp art" was not used to identify this type of folk art until the 1950's, even though by then its production had all but stopped (largely, some think, because of a decline in cigar smoking and thus a decrease in the availability of cigar boxes). The lore persists that tramp art was made by wandering souls, largely anonymous, and that the fruits of their labors were bartered for food and shelter. Wile there is some truth to this, many who produced tramp art were skilled craftspeople who devoted major amounts of time to their creative pursuits. Most tramp art is unsigned and undated, adding to the mystique surrounding it.