Fridays before game weekends, Oxford begins to fill with curious crowds combing town, looking to see what Oxford has to offer.
One local flower shop uses this busy time to feature artisans from around the area. These art-centric and often colorful events are Oxford Floral’s Football Fridays.
This Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oxford Floral will host painter Susan Woodard for clientele to meet her and learn about her work.
“These events have been done for years,” Ashley Wilkinson, manager at Oxford Floral, said. “It gives an opportunity to feature the artisan and us while there are large crowds in town.”
Wilkinson was introduced to Woodard’s work through an employee who owned a few of her pieces. After seeing the artwork, they decided that Woodard would be a good artisan to showcase.
Woodard is a watercolor portrait artist who was also an adjunct professor at Ole Miss in 2004. In 2004, Woodard only painted children until her buyers asked for other portraits.
Woodard has been featured in magazines, blogs and stores like Southern Living, Design*Sponge, Holly Mathis Interiors and Paper and Ink. She has also been featured in a number of exhibitions in places like New York, Italy, Louisiana and, of course, Mississippi.
“Customer-driven demand helped to expand my repertoire. I now paint a lot of children, full families, animals and more,” Woodard said.
During the event at Oxford Floral, people can meet with Woodard and have her take a picture of what they would like to be painted. It will then take about 12 weeks for the piece to be finished, according to Woodard.
Other Football Fridays events will showcase P. Press stationary, Blessing Bowls by Carrie Cox and Spirit Song Pottery.
