Attributed to Nellie Mae Rowe, no coa, private collection, medium: pastel, measurements: 27"HX32"W framed, mint condition, Biography: Nellie Mae Rowe (July 4, 1900 – October 18, 1982) was an African-American artist from Fayette County, Georgia. Rowe's living space – her home and yard – served as her first canvas and installation project. Adorned with dozens of objects from dolls and stuffed animals to household bric-a-brac, her home emerged as a site of transformation. There, recycled and discarded materials became works of art. Scraps of wood and chewing gum became dolls and sculptures. Her adornment of her home brought her into conflict with members of her community over the years.Some members of the community would deface or cause damage to her house and work.Years later, while describing her artistic process, Rowe stated, "I started doing it way ago, right after my husband died. He died in '48 and then people just started to bring in this, bring in the dolls, and bringing me things. I take nothing, you know, take nothing and make something out of it."Notably, Rowe described her elaborately decorated two-room cottage and yard as her "playhouse." It was a place for creation – for play. Years later, she said "I enjoy playing. I ain't trying to keep house now, I'm just a-playing house. I just got my playhouse like I'm come back a baby again." For Rowe, it was here, in the playhouse, where her creative obsessiveness could flourish.One visitor, who first saw Rowe's house in 1979, later recalled, "It was a densely packed hodgepodge environment that would make your mouth fall open. Everyone from architects to the local deliveryman who stop and stare, because it was an astounding creation."Rowe's house was dismantled and eventually torn down after her death in 1982. A hotel now stands on the site. A plaque commemorates where the alternate world of play and production that once stood.Judith Alexander, herself an amazing personality, took me to meet Nellie Mae in May, 1980. Nellie Mae was welcoming and kind person. I saw this scrap of wood that she had painted to look like a fish. I ask her if I can buy it. She said that she wanted to get her nephew a shirt and tie for his birthday. I offered her $30.00 and she accepted.