Rock Garden and Concrete Postcards - Florence Deeble
Artist-built Environment | Concrete environment | Restored/preserved - Open to the public
"I wanted to bring the mountains home with me. They are beautiful to me. I love rocks."
(Grassroots Art Center)
Florence Deeble was a school teacher by profession in Lincoln, Osborne and Russell counties for 42 years. The Deeble family homesteaded in the Lucas area. Florence lived in the home of her parents, Charles and Edith Barr Deeble. She recalls her family thinking of Lucas as their ‘Camelot’.
Miss Deeble and her roommate, Christine Klontz, spent part of their summers away from teaching at their cabin at Estes Park, Colorado. They would always bring rocks home in the trunk of their car. She loved being outside working in the yard in the summer months. Florence called herself a gardener, not an artist. In her younger days, she had a wide variety of flowers in her rock garden, and it was her showplace.
Since 1935, Miss Deeble creatd miniature "postal card" scenes of the places she had visited or read about in books. Some of these included Mount Rushmore, Estes Park Conference Camp, and the Tetons. Florence worked the last 10 years of her life creating tributes to the Lucas City Band, founding fathers, a monument to her father and another to her brother, Burl, who served in WWII. She enjoyed visitors to her garden and carefully kept a guest book listing everyone who visited.
Other folk art within walking distance of Florence Deeble's Rock Garden includes the Garden of Eden, World's Largest Collection of World's Smallest Versions of World's Largest Things, Grassroots Art Center, and the Garden of Isis,
Florence has passed away, but the Kansas Grassroots Art Center now uses the house for artists in residence. For tour info, contact Grassroots Art Center (785) 525-6118
Since 2002, the first floor of Florence's home has been turned into the Garden of Isis.
Credit: Grassroots Art Center http://www.grassrootsart.net
Creator: Florence Deeble: 1900-1999
Creation date: 1935-1999
129 Fairview
Lucas, KS
785-525-6118
http://www.grassrootsart.net
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Books
"Detour Art—Outsider, Folk Art, and Visionary Folk Art Environments Coast to Coast, Art and Photographs from the Collection of Kelly Ludwig" by Kelly Ludwig, Kansas City Star Books, 2007.
"Rare Visions & Roadside Revelations" (the book), by Randy Mason, Michael Murphy and Don Mayberger, Kansas City Star Publishing, 2002.
"Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations, "Prowlin' the Prairie", KCPT, Kansas City Public Television, 1996-2000.
"20th Century American Folk, Self Taught, and Outsider Art" by Betty-Carol Sellen, Cynthia J. Johnson, Neal-Schuman Publishers, New York, 1993.
"Self-Made Worlds: Visionary Environments" by Roger Manley and Mark Sloan, Aperture, New York, 1997.
"Self Taught, Outsider, and Folk Art—A guide to American Artists, Locations and Resources" by Betty-Carol Sellen with Cynthia J. Johnson, McFarland & Company, 2000.
"American Self-Taught Art: An Illustrated Analysis of 20th Century Artists and Trends with 1,319 Capsule Biographies" by Florence Laffal and Julius Laffal, 2003.
"Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations Coast to Coast Travel-o-Pedia" by Randy Mason, et. al., Kansas City Star Books, 2009.
Shuler, M. E. (1998). Florence Deeble: An early Kansas artist. University Press of Kansas.
Magazine Articles:
Rasmussen, J. (1998). Florence Deeble: Celebrating a pioneer artist. The High Plains Journal, 54(19), 16-18.
Foulk, T. (2000). Florence Deeble: An artist's love of nature. Kansas Magazine, 1(2), 20-21.
Johnson, C. (2001). Florence Deeble: Painting a life of beauty. Kansas Heritage, 9(4), 6-9.
Websites:
Kansas Historical Society. (n.d.). Florence Deeble. Retrieved from https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/florence-deeble/12149
Wichita Art Museum. (n.d.). Florence Deeble. Retrieved from https://www.wichitaartmuseum.org/collection/artist/florence-deeble
Spencer Museum of Art. (n.d.). Florence Deeble. Retrieved from https://www.spencerart.ku.edu/collection/people/artist/deeble-florence/
The Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery. (n.d.). Florence Deeble. Retrieved from https://sandzen.org/artists/florence-deeble/
AskArt. (n.d.). Florence Deeble. Retrieved from https://www.askart.com/artist/Florence_Deeble/102218/Florence_Deeble.aspx
