(1932 - )
Alpha Andrews was born on August 20th, 1932. She grew up working in the Georgia cotton fields, and married at age 19. She was widowed when her five children were still young and supported her family by working as a bookkeeper, a nursing assistant, and a correspondent for the Anderson Independent newspaper. She eventually opened a hair salon and a craft shop in a local flea market and became an ordained minister.Alpha Andrews started painting in 1983. She used Tulip Pearl fabric paint, acrylic, watercolor and marker on paper or canvas. The colours are vivid and she often used accents of gold and glitter paint. Her paintings are detailed and include geometric and repetitive patterns which create a mosaic effect. Phrases and text are incorporated into the body of the painting. Her paintings are referred to as memory paintings, a fascinating and fluid blend of memories, dreams, visions, and psychic images of rural life, religion and Georgia geography.
One of her first paintings was included in the exhibition "Art From the Heart" at the Lyndon House, Athens, Georgia in 1990. She made a record cover for an album "Month of Sundays" by Mosaic (Railroad Records, 1993). One of her paintings is on the back of Chuck and Jan Rosenak's "Contemporary American Folk Art, A Collector's Guide". She has been in many exhibitions and publications and her paintings are in the permanent collection of the American Folk Art Museum, the Carter Presidential Library and the New York State Historical Association.
Ref: Contemporary American Folk Art - A Collector's Guide, Chuck and Jan Rosenak (1996); Self Taught, Outsider and Folk Art, Betty-Carol Sellen (2000).
