Folk art collection enlivens rustic Cobb County home

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Folk art collection enlivens rustic Cobb County home

Jim and Dona Cole's east Cobb home is brimming over with folk art, including works by Thornton Dial, Mose Tolliver, Howard Finster and Jimmy Lee Sudduth.

Jim and Dona Cole in their Cobb County home, where they have amassed an impressive collection of folk art.

These pieces were done by Jimmy Lee Sudduth (top), Clementine Hunter (middle) and Purvis Young (bottom left).

Tennessee carver Homer Green -- known for his totems, birds, and gators made from wood found around his rural home -- created these two pieces.

These chain whimseys hang from the fireplace in the living room. (Whimseys are carved from one piece of wood and usually resemble chains or links.)

Homeowner Dona Cole designs and makes her own quilts. She is a former art director.

Work by Mose Tolliver, one of America's most highly respected self-taught artists, hangs over a doorway. "Mose T" as he's also known, gained real recognition after the Corcoran Gallery in Washington mounted an exhibition of Black American Folk Art.

Another piece by Jimmy Lee Sudduth, who was known for his upbeat mud paintings on plywood.

The formal dining room.

A Thornton Dial piece hangs in the formal dining room.

This scarred table in the breakfast area was once Jim Cole's office desk.

Photos and collections in the piano room. Jim Cole's mother hand made the fabric peddler dolls displayed in the far china cabinet.

Detail of artwork in the piano room. The couple's collection of outsider folk art is so extensive that the couple rotates pieces throughout the house from storage to display.

A collection of baskets hang in the combination kitchen/living room.

This piece by Mamie Deschillie, an Indian artist, hangs in the guest bedroom.

Jim's great grandmother made the quilt (in back of photo) in 1892. The artwork at bottom left of a woman was created by Jim Sudduth.

The master bedroom.

Artist Elayne Goodman made the cigar boxes on display in the master bedroom. The figures on the right were created by Archie Byron.

Another piece by Archie Byron, who is known for making paintings from sawdust and glue, hangs in the powder room.

A Mary T. Smith piece.

Artwork by Knox Wilkinson is in the guest bedroom.

Jim Cole, a native New Yorker, cofounded the Atlanta ad agency Cole Henderson Drake. He moved to the South 40 years ago. He is now a freelance writer and an avid reader.

A detail of more artwork in the guest bedroom.

A lamp made of insulin bottles and popsicle sticks.

A wooden rocker in the living room is a lesson in patience. The couple snapped it up at the Raiford Gallery in Roswell after waiting for the price to drop.

The Coles' collection includes the face jugs of Lanier Meaders. They bought the first one for $200 in Cleveland, Ga. "We thought it was so much money," Jim Cole said. Today, the face jugs are much more valuable.

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Jim and Dona Cole in their Cobb County home, where they have amassed an impressive collection of folk art.

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