I Heard God Talking to Me: William Edmondson and His Stone Carvings (review)

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Reviewed by: I Heard God Talking to Me: William Edmondson and His Stone Carvings Deborah Stevenson Spires, Elizabeth I Heard God Talking to Me: William Edmondson and His Stone Carvings. Foster/Farrar, 2009 [56p] illus. with photographs ISBN 978-0-374-33528-1$17.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 6-10 William Edmondson, born to freed slaves in Tennessee, worked at various hard jobs until, at the age of fifty-seven, divine visions turned him to carving stone; beginning with modest gravestones, he then blossomed into a career of impressive stone sculptures that brought him of the attention of fine-art circles in the 1930s. Poet Spires (Riddle Road, BCCB 5/99, etc.) takes a look at Edmondson's life and creation through twenty-three lyrical free-verse entries, none longer than a page, each paired with a dramatic black-and-white photograph of an Edmondson work or of the artist himself. Though the concept is sophisticated as well as imaginative, Spires' eloquent verses are certainly accessible to young readers, and they're effective blends of the concrete and the imaginative; while playfulness predominates in the poetry as in the art, there's a sense of wonder and a vivid respect for the artist (the sequence opens with several entries that are actually evocatively arranged quotes from Edmondson himself ) that underpins the humor. The photographs, from a variety of sources including photographer Edward Weston, tend toward haunting chiaroscuro, but there's a sturdy friendliness to Edmondson's stone portraiture of figures ranging from Eleanor Roosevelt and boxer Jack Johnson to angels and animals. The book concludes with a detailed five-page description of Edmondson's life and a selected bibliography, including many periodical articles published in his own lifetime, and detailed credits for the photographs. Partner this up with other explorations of American folk art (Mary Lyons' Catching the Fire: Philip Simmons, Blacksmith, BCCB 10/97, etc.) or intriguing interpretations of works (Barbara Ann Porte's Black Elephant with a Brown Ear, BCCB 6/96), or just use it to spark different ways of looking at art. Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois