Don't miss Elmore Demott and her slide show of "Flowers for Mom."
(photo from https://blog.elmoredemott.com/ )
Elmore DeMott’s photographs are two-dimensional. Yet their subjects—flowers—seem to vibrate. You feel as if you could touch them, smell them, hear bees buzzing around them. Simply gazing at them brings peace.
“Beauty abounds. Seek it daily,” advises Elmore. She finds beauty in nature, where she processes life’s issues. A few years ago, Elmore’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. To honor her mother, to process her own feelings, and to deal with all that such a diagnosis entails, Elmore hit upon a novel idea: to photograph a flower a day. Starting August 2, 2016, that’s exactly what she has done with a project she calls Flowers for Mom. The only criterion for inclusion is beauty, for Elmore is no floral snob. She spots beauty in virtually all flowers, both blooming and wilting—from frilly Queen Anne’s lace to luscious camellias to ephemeral dandelions to unnamed weeds. Flowers in the collection come from 19 states (with lots from Alabama) and 11 countries. In 2018, Flowers for Mom earned her the Architect for Change award by Maria Shriver, founder of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement.
Even before Flowers for Mom, Wetumpka’s own Elmore DeMott had an amazingly productive, successful career. Her photos served as backdrops for performances in San Francisco and Italy, she was a founding member of three groups devoted to classical music, she was artist-in-residence for the Photography Festival in France, her work has been exhibited all over the place, clothing lines have taken inspiration from her photos of nature, and she has authored and co-authored two books: Take My Hand and Chulee: Spirit of the Pine Tree.
Please join us at Tuesdays With Kelly on February 18 at the Wetumpka Civic Center—and see Elmore DeMott’s gorgeous photos for yourself! An engaging speaker, Elmore will share details of her artistic process and also how her photographs “resonate with people and touch them in ways I never imagined when I shot them.” ---Carla Luck