Dirt Roads of the Bottoms....

In the early 1930's I grew up playing in the dirt back roads of Buttermilk Bottom in Atlanta. Our boyhood homes were flattened in the early sixties making the way for a parking lot for the Atlanta's Civic Center.
The neighborhood businesses and movie houses' marquees of that era are also gone.
Since my childhood community, of which I had known, no longer existed, reluctantly, after my tour in the army, I had to search for a new home.

Paved Roads of Grove Park

In the early 1980's I settled in Atlanta's Grove Park, where my widowed dad, Ralph, lived.
Even though Grove Park roads were not muddy, here I found, some murky community politics.
So, I joined the Neighborhoiod Planning Unit ''J'' and voiced my opinion at the Atlanta City Hall's opened mikes.

Grove Park's Laughing Trees

Grove Park community has an abundance of shade tree lined streets. I noticed while mowing my lawn that I had some gigantic unhappy looking trees looking down over my shoulder. In between going to community meetings, I decided to do something about the trees' demeanor. To make a long story short, I decided to give these bored trees something to do to lift their spirits, and give Grove Park a festival boost.
So, in 1997, I grabbed my brush, acrylic paints and I decorated the bare, unsightly tree trunks. I call these hearts and flowers painted canvas trees, Grove Park's ''Laughing Trees.''
Quickly, the media, tours and Avant Gardening Open Houses have visted my home at 1796 North Avenue. N.W. Atlanta, 30318. Since my workmanship is visible from the streets, daily, thousands of pedestrians, city busses, and automobile traffic, passing by have seen my Laughing ''Treescape'' Open Air Gallery all year round.
Even though I'm noted for studio paintings of community scenes, I've taken my expertise outside to communicate with nature. However, you DO NOT have to be an artist to be able to decorate your trees. I'll gladly give you free instructions for the asking.
The included newspaper article is in a series on the efforts of my beautifying the Grove Park neigbborhood.

Email us:
J.l.t.malone@att.net