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Artist uses talent to tell about past
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Dolores Purdy Corcoran holds one of
the ornamental masks she made from a gourd. Corcoran uses the bottom
portions of gourds to create the mask, then
she paints them and adorns them with feathers and turquoise.
Anthony S. Bush/The Capital-Journal
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By Ann Marie Bush
The Capital-Journal
One
corner of Dolores Purdy Corcoran's in-home studio is filled with clear,
plastic boxes of feathers, gourds and paints.
Ornamental
gourd masks line one wall and the sound of a fountain fills the small
room.
This
studio, located in Corcoran's southwest home, is where she comes to focus
on what she does best -- art.
Corcoran
grew up traveling all over the country because her father was in the Air
Force. She was born in Hampton, Va., but graduated from Topeka West
High School in
1970.
Corcoran
began dabbling in art in high school. She worked with oils at first.
"I
always wanted to do watercolors," she said.
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Anthony S. Bush/The Capital-Journal
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After
her two children were raised, she returned to her love of art and began
learning again.
Corcoran
is a member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma located in Binger, Okla. Many of her
relatives still live near tribal lands, she said. Her great-grandmother
and her Caddo husband traveled to Oklahoma
in the 1870s.
"I
remember listening to many stories passed down and found it all
enthralling," she said. "I have always loved art, any form of
art. I took lessons in watercolor from Diane Lawrence (a Berryton artist)
and moved on to develop and experiment with different techniques, but
stayed with transparent watercolors."
While
she continued to do watercolors, she also began making hand-painted pots
from gourds. On a trip to Santa
Fe, N.M.,
Corcoran became interested in some clay masks she saw. She combined her
love of art and history to come up with various designs for gourd
ornamental masks.
Corcoran
searches for the perfect gourds and then uses the bottom of them for the
mask. She then paints them and adorns them with turquoise and feathers.
"I've
been known to drive to east Texas
to get gourds," she said.
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Anthony S. Bush/The Capital-Journal
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Her
husband gathers a lot of the feathers for her.
"He's
my great white hunter," she said with a smile.
The
designs for the masks are based on masks that have been found in Mound
Builders' mounds.
"I
have visited several mounds and have researched the Mound Builders,"
she said. "But these aren't ceremonial masks, they are variations of
them. The masks are contemporary representations of shell or pottery gorgets and masks found among the Mound Builder
culture. The Caddo people consider themselves direct descendants of the
Mound Builders.
"These
gorgets and masks were found in burial sites
and among possessions buried with the Spiro, Caddo and Cahokia
mounds. The feathers are of wild turkey and pheasant that were indigenous
to the area. Turquoise was also a traded commodity and found within the
mounds."
In
August, when Corcoran was participating in the Santa Fe Indian Market in New Mexico, a
buyer for the Smithsonian stopped by her booth and purchased some of her
art for resell. Visitors to the Smithsonian
Art Museum in Washington, D.C.,
who saw the exhibit "George Catlin and His
Indian Gallery" could find Corcoran's art
in the gift shop. The exhibit ran through January.
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Dolores Purdy Corcoran talks about
some of her watercolors and other paintings, which appear behind her.
Anthony S. Bush/The Capital-Journal
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Corcoran's
work also can be seen in several galleries and exhibits in many top shows
throughout the United States, including the Haskell Indian Art Market, Eiteljorg Indian Market and the Heard Indian Fair and
Market. Framewoods of Topeka has some of
Corcoran's work on display, too.
Corcoran
and her husband travel frequently to markets.
"I
enjoy meeting all of the people and the travel," she said. "I
get to meet a lot of artists."
Corcoran
also enjoys time spent at home in her studio.
"I
just relax and let things go," she said. "This is something I
would like to do full time."
The
research she has conducted about the Mound Builders has taught her a lot
about her family's history, too. If she could choose a time period to
visit, she said, it would be 1840-1870.
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Corcoran holds one of her gourd masks
at her in-home studio in southwest Topeka.
Anthony S. Bush/The Capital-Journal
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"Just
to see what it was like," Corcoran said. "I think it would be
very fun to see what it was like."
But
every time she steps in her studio, it gives her a chance to step back in
time.
"This
gives me more of a connection," she said. "I'm very blessed to
be able to do what I want to do. I just hope I can continue to do this
for as long as I can."
Last Modified: 5:12 p.m. - 3/26/2003
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