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The Meaderses are among the very few remaining folk potters in
the United States — perhaps even the most traditional in both practice
and outlook. Thus it is difficult not to be astonished by their pottery at
first encounter, for only a few hours' drive separates it from downtown
Atlanta, Georgia. This separation, however, as we have seen, is one
of time as well as space.
Because of me Meaderses' adherence to nineteenth-century ways,
we tend to elevate them to the status of "folk artists." For the most
part, however, their work is not a personal expression of some deep
inner urging as, say, the apocalyptic images of the visionary painter,
but rather a sturdy craft with utility, not artistry, in mind.
Further, we view people like the Meaderses as somehow immune to
change, content to let events in the world at large pass diem by.
Indeed, we embrace the quilter, chairmaker, or potter precisely
because of his or her disinclination to "keep up with the times." And
yet even diis is something of an illusion. As indicated diroughout this
monograph, the Meaderses have been buffeted by social and
economic forces beyond their controlling. For example, in some ways
the present success of the youngest Meaders, Lanier, completes a
circle, inasmuch as it is principally a new clientele of folk-art collectors
that encourages him to work in mostly traditional forms.
The Meaderses at times seem bothered by the inordinate attention
paid diem. They are happy that success has its financial rewards, but
recognize its disadvantages as well. In a recent interview, Lanier
confided to one researcher:
. . . I just don't want to have to put up widi die notoriety! People have
always come and bothered me right at the most inopportune time. I've
wondered if everybody in the world is that way. When I go to sit down
to eat, then somebody comes and starts rapping on the door. People
come hunting this place and hunting me. I'm getting to where I don't
know him [meaning himself]: "Well [I tell them], he's up there someplace
. . " 4
Lanier has a quality present in many residents of the Old Soum —a
kind of laconic view of the world that combines both humor and introspection.
Therefore, it is sometimes difficult to ascertain his true feelings
about those who visit him. That he does profit in some measure
by such experiences seems clear, as he told one of the authors, "There