Alan Rhodes Cahokia Creatives

Buying for collectors is always difficult, but one of our friends was determined to give us a cookie jar for Christmas this year. Not knowing the ins and outs of buying vintage jars, she chose to buy us a modern jar crafted by artist Alan Rhodes of Cahokia Creatives. When I say modern, I mean contemporary and roughly formed completely by hand. When we first opened the gift, I was not sure if I liked the jar. Frankly, I didn't even know what the jar depicted, as it appeared to be a cross between a frog, a lizard, and a horny toad. I immediately imagined our collection of Hull Little Red Riding Hoods looking aghast at this new and rather frightening creature sitting on a shelf across from them in the jar room. Oh come on, I know all collectors believe their jars come to life at night, right? I mean, who hasn't imagined McCoy's Clown in a Barrel roaming the halls of their home late at night, knife in hand? Scary, indeed. But after living with "George" (yes, we gave him a name), I found myself drawn to him because he is somehow ugly cute and makes me smile whenever I look at him. This got me doing some research on the artist and after viewing some of Alan Rhodes' other jars online, I started to get a feel for his work. And I liked what I saw and felt. Alan's jars are all one-of-a-kind handcrafted pieces. No molds used here. They are rough in every sense of that word, yet they emit a joy and a great deal of whimsy that I find so delightful. They're not mass manufactured jars with perfect lines, perfect paint, and perfect form. They are jars crafted by an artist who has a gift for putting a bit of himself into his work and that's rare in this day and age where everything is about mass production and the bottom line. Alan has approximately twenty-five different jars available for purchase at this time. Few are shown on his website, so I have included some pictures to give you an idea of the scope of his work. He can be contacted through his website at www.cahokiacreatives.com as well as his online store on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/cahokiacreatives and I know he will be more than willing to provide pictures and prices to you direct by email. His jars run approximately $75.00 - $125.00, plus shipping via UPS ground/insured. Click on each image to see larger view:

Dinosaur	Triceratops	Horse
Hippo	Dragon	Buffalo Wings