Montevallo Arts Fest Participant Relives Past through Paintings

By Kiera Hood

Painting by Jessie Lavon

The 2016 Montevallo Arts Fest was held at Orr Park on Saturday April 10 at 10 a.m. Many artists arrived to set up around 7 a.m. For one participant in this year's art fest, it was a time of remembrance of her lost loved ones.

Painting by  Jessie Lavon

Mrs Jessie Lavon was more than happy to be sharing her art at the event. After suffering from a stroke, she had lost all of her memory besides her childhood. She lost her mother at a young age which caused her to lose her passion for painting.

However, friends like Katherine Halloway encouraged her to continue doing what she loved to do. According to Katherine, Mrs Jessie grew up in the Focalin and Demopolis, AL area.

In many of her paintings, her mother whom she loved dearly wore a green dress with polka dots. "This painting here is when the angels came and carried mama home", she said.
Mrs. Lavon could remember very many things about her mother and says that she enjoyed quilting as her many hobbies.

Her favorite painting was that of "strange fruits". She says that the painting was inspired by Billie Holiday's song strange fruits. Mrs. Lavon says that many more of her paintings can be seen at the Blue Phrog Gallery located on Main Street in Montevallo.