Blog entry

University of North Georgia Gift Basket Giveaway!

What better way to welcome back University of North Georgia Students than with a gift basket giveaway?  Stuffed with all sorts of snack food - the cadet that won was totally stoked!  Kranberry Kathy's gift baskets are perfect for birthdays, holidays, get well gifts...you name it!  To see a few examples of gift baskets created in the past, click here.  To order your custom gift basket, click here!

North Georgia Folk Artist Billy Roper...

 
We recently spotted this painting while scrolling through facebook, and just had to share it.   A beautiful, bright angel painted by our friend North Georgia Artist Billy Roper.  From the biography on his website...
 
..."In describing himself, Appalachian folk artist Billy Roper says, 'I was born blessedly poor. We lived back in the hills where life was 50 years behind times. We didn't have much growing up, but what we had was more –– an honest, hardworking family.'
 
It's those years of weathering hardships throughout his life that have made him the artist he is today and that is reflected in his work. Art has always been a part of his life with his skills ranging from painting and drawing to sculpting marble and carving wood. Roper recalls, "There isn't a time I can remember when I didn't want to mark on something. I was the worst write-on-the-walls young'un that ever lived."
 
His work has emotional depth and speaks to people about the simple things in life –– the things that matter the most. The native of north Georgia is most known for his expressive style of painting that combines colorful imagery on the front with handwriting on the back to tell a story or depict an emotion. 

 

Billy Roper is simply Billy. He remembers his Appalachian roots, his Cherokee ancestors and their culture. Of them he says, "I was taught who I was and where I came from for countless generations. That does not make me better than or worse than, but it does make me – me."

 

Music has always been a strong part of Billy's life and that passion is shown in the nine months he spent painting a bass fiddle that was raffled off in April 2011 at the Bear on the Square Mountain Festival in Dahlonega, Ga. The project raised money to benefit the Georgia Pick & Bow Music School, an instructional music program that helps to ensure that Appalachian music is passed down to the next generation. 

 

His work can be found in art collections throughout the United States and more than 30 countries. He was North Georgia College & State University's first artist-in-residence in 2007 and the book, "Billy Roper: Visual Storyteller," was the first work published by the University Press of North Georgia."

We dig Dahlonega + deals!

 

Visit Cranberry Corners gift shop to redeem this buy 1 get 1 free coupon for Dahlonega's 2 custom Cat's Meow Village Pieces!  Don't live in Dahlonega?  Call Kranberry Kathy @ (706) 864-6577 to purchase by phone.  Offer good for Price Memorial and the Gold Museum Cat's Meow pieces while supplies last.  In addition to a good Dahlonega deal, Cranberry Corners has another reason to dig Dahlonega...   

 

 

...Matt Aiken, a writer for the Dahlonega Nugget, recently launched idigdahlonega - a totally hip current events news blog choc full of local lore! Click here to visit idigdahlonega.  We dig.  You dig?