Pole Cat by Minnie Adkins

Medium: Carved and painted wood
Dimensions: 5x24x2
 
About Minnie Adkins:
Born to a Kentucky tobacco farmer, Minnie Adkins grew up in the mountainous eastern region where she whittled slingshots as a child. 
 
She met her husband and partner, Garland, when she was sixteen and the two married in 1952.  After living in Ohio for several years, they returned to the Bluegrass State.  It was then that Minnie took hold of her inventive talent and began carving with fervor. 
 
Garland encouraged his wife’s creative spark, helping her shape wood and dry finished pieces in a wood-fueled “smokehouse.”  The couple continued to work collaboratively for nearly 20 years until Garland died of cancer in 1997. 
 
After a time of grieving, Minnie once again began to create her expressive creatures of linden wood.  Her favorite subjects include biblical scenes, bears, foxes, and possums.  The faces of her creatures are distinctive and easily recognizable.  Her pieces are smooth and are painted with a consistency that provides evidence of her affinity for carving.  She confesses that of all the crafts she experiments with, it is really the carving she enjoys the most!