Mary Emmerling - The American Flag: Art, Design, Fashion

The American Flag

Art, Design, Fashion

Mary Emmerling

Photos by Reed Davis

The American Flag

Art, Design, Fashion

Digital Edition 1.0

Text 2014 Mary Emmerling

Photographs 2014 Reed Davis

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any means whatsoever without written permission from the publisher, except brief portions quoted for purpose of review.

Gibbs Smith

P.O. Box 667

Layton, Utah 84041

Orders: 1.800.835.4993

www.gibbs-smith.com

ISBN: 978-1-4236-3648-9

To Reg Jackson, Samantha Emmerling and Nicholas Hall, Jonathan Emmerling and Rosy Lum, Terry Ellisor

The passion I have for American flags started when I was in public school in Minot, North Dakota, and later in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. We would gather in the auditorium for exercises that invariably included the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance and singing of The Star Spangled Banner. There was always a special feeling during that time.

This is what flags are all about: the feeling you get in your heart when the presidents entourage passes by in a parade or at a cemetery when a flag-draped hearse goes past.

My mother and father are both buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The moment when the guardsmen folded the American flag and handed it to my family was profoundly moving, and I cannot think about it without getting teary-eyed.

And so I collect American flagsboth as objects and as visual experiences. Flags and bunting at the World Series, the Fourth of July at the Washington Monument, Rockefeller Center, parades in cities around the country, and sporting and military events. One of my favorite events is the Olympic Games. Seeing our flag waving so proudly among those of other countries is a thrilling sight. Ive tried to capture some of these emotions within the collections seen on the pages that follow. I hope they stir something in your heart.

The rusticity of it is appealing. Its imperfections and amateur qualities allow me to feel the artists passion and spirit through their work. The materials are usually found or natural. People who create folk art often do not think of themselves as artists, so there is a naive exuberance about their pieces.

I started falling in love with folk art the more I visited the folk art museums in New York City and Santa Fe. As I explored, I was drawn to pieces that had flags in or on them: whirligigs, paintings, lathe flags at the beach, quilts, vintage painted gates, hooked rugs, needlework, painted gourds and carved wood. Objects that could be considered as the art of the common people.

Flag by local Hamptons artist Gene Gilligan.

This handmade wooden flag (artist unknown) on the side of a beach road serves as a marker for locals and beach-goers.

A lifeguard stand in Amagansett, New York, is the easel for this folk art piece by Long Island artist Gene Gilligan.

One of Montauk, Long Islands most visible landmarks not only marks where to turn but also proudly bears a homespun symbol of our nation.

Entrances are a popular place to showcase local artists.

This lathe flag is another by Gilligan, at the jitney stop in front of the Huntting Inn, East Hampton.

Many flags were added to the landscape after 9/11, such as this one on the side of a red barn.

The Hamptons area is decorated with more flag folk art than any other city I have visited.

On a building or a car, a painted flag or decal can transform the ordinary into a contemporary statement of pride.

This American fishing dory was used in the early 19th century with a net to do beach fishing for striped bass near the shore (no longer legal). It now sits in front of the Marine Museum in Amagansett.

Sailors pocket made out of a torn sail; circa 1850s, depicts two flags with a Navy anchor.

Another sailors pocket sports a picture of a New Yorkbuilt schooner, circa 1920s.