Buy Local is a profile series of Southern artists and shops that deserve your attention. The style, passion and love of the South comes through in every piece they sell. Peruse these wonderful local purveyors and you’ll be supporting a Southern dream to get along with what ya got. Make sure to click on the photos to purchase the items in this post!
In the North, it's very common to see a "welcome" mat at the entrance to a home. In the South, folks just come right out and say "hey y'all" no matter where you're going. (Hey Y'all Southern Slang Sign $50)
Slippin’ Southern is a shop that celebrates all things Southern by creating decorative items that highlight the South’s rich culture and homespun lifestyle.
The over-sized wooden decor items in this Etsy store are bold and graphic with a certain weathered, worn sensibility that fits into any home. Pieces range of Southern phrases to coastal critters like whales and crabs, and beautiful giant letters to make the perfect monogram. Each piece of Slippin’ Southern’s work is steeped in the South’s care for detail and culture. Available in a range of bright colors you can go modern or classic to fit your design ascetic.
Artist Gregory Morris grew up in Milton, Florida and now lives in eastern North Carolina. While he wandered far from the South with a tour in the military, then studying graphic design at the Art Institute of Chicago and surviving a 25 year stint in advertising and design, he’s always been a Southern at heart. “I think in a true Southerner’s mind they always live in the South and they are just visiting anywhere else they find themselves on the planet.”
The call of the South whispered through a sweet dream on the internet. “For a couple of years we had our eye on a large historic farm house in North Carolina on the internet and had been thinking of purchasing it and moving South to restore it. Once my job ended at my last ad agency we kind of both looked at each other and said ‘Now’s the time.’ So we went for it,” Gregory tells.
This filly is at full trot, she's reminiscent of those old weathervanes that you see atop old barns or houses. (Horse Trot Wooden Sign $79)
Everything about the South inspires Gregory’s work. “It predicts what pieces I’ll create next. So many little sayings that just rolled off of everyone’s tongue like Shug, Darlin’, Hey Y’all and I’m Fixin’ to… are still being said by the new folks we are meeting here in NC everyday,” Gregory muses. “I even have subconsciously started using some of them again. I now call all of the local girls at the stores “shug.” That’s how the name Slippin’ Southern came about. One of us will ‘slip’ and say something Southern like “bless your heart” and the other will say ‘Hey, you’re Slippin’ Southern!’”
Gregory also draws from the locals in his new hometown Snow Hill for inspiration. “These are people that have survived for generations and still do the same work their parents and grandparents did. Farmers, carpenters and other tradesmen. Their language and values have not changed for generations.”
These super fun over-sized letters look great just setting around the house. (Really Big Letters $59)
It’s the unique antiquity of the South that Gregory wishes Yankees would take a spell to appreciate. It’s this naturally deconstructed look that comes through in his art. “Living in the South has always been all about getting by, making ends meet. As you travel around you’ll find so many things that are frozen in time. Houses that are s l o w l y deteriorating, as if the are falling down in slow motion. In the North, people would just tear it down and rebuild. But here, many can’t afford to do that. Families grow up and move away so the house just sits…. and sits… until it’s a pile of lumber.”
Gregory hopes that others will come to the South to experience the rich history and culture that is untapped and often under appreciated. “All of it’s rich traditions and quirky ways of doing things will be around for generations to continue to discover.”
Gregory Morris of Slippin’ Southern
Buy His Work: http://www.slippinsouthern.etsy.com
Twitter: @SlippinSouthern
Facebook: “Like” Him
Website: www.SlippinSouthern.com
