Lonnie & Twyla Money

A true Kentucky treasure, Lonnie and Twyla Money are self-taught artists who have been working together making folk art since 1985. Lonnie does the carving and sculpture with wood and gourds, and Twyla does the painting. Lonnie and Twyla, both raised along the Jackson/Laurel County line in Southeastern Kentucky, went from full-time farmers to full-time artists when they converted their barn into a studio.

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Lonnie attributes his talent as a carver to his great-grandfather, a carver in Switzerland before immigrating to the United States in 1883. Influenced by his surroundings, Lonnie began carving the likeness of animals: a fox carrying a chicken, birds, dogs, and farm animals.

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Twyla began working with Lonnie in 1985 when she began to paint the carvings that Lonnie made. Their collaboration resulted in whimsical, finely crafted and painted animal figures that have been delighting collectors for more than 30 years. The pastoral setting of the farm Lonnie and Twyla live on has inspired a menagerie of carved animal figures both wild and domesticated. Among their favorite subjects are opossums, skunks, pigs eating corn, and roosters. Twyla's painting has developed into a signature style that comes from the heart and reflects a graphically sophisticated and deceivingly  simple  palette that completes and perfectly harmonizes with Lonnie's carving technique. If you collect Kentucky folk art, you can definitely tell when a critter has been painted by Twyla.

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Theirs is a labor of love, and a reflection of their symbiotic collaboration and partnership.

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"We love the challenge of creating and designing pieces of art from whatever is at hand," says Lonnie. "Ideas and materials come from our surroundings and lifestyle. Country living gives us so many thoughts and ideas for creating art."

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Website: moneysfolkart.com

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