is the result of a near kitchen disaster. Jim Yeatts, gallery owner, tells us that the artist left the cookie tin in the oven too long one day and tried desperately to get it clean. When it didn't begin to shine properly, she decided to paint it and frame it. "Cookie Sheet", done in "mixed media", is a delightful addition to the show. It may also be some sort of inspiration to other kitchen artists, who prefer paint brushes to scouring pads." The art piece is an example of "found object art", in that it is presented by the artist as a work of art, but the object was originally designed for a non-art function. Jessamine Shumate had taken something that was "found" and made it into another, more artistic, representation. Jessamine Shumate has shown her works in the art museums of Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia; the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia; Bristol, Tennessee, the Greenville Museum of Art in Greenville, North Carolina, Tarboro, North Carolina, the art museum of Springfield, Massachusetts and others. Life Jessamine Shumate was born to a tradesman and general store owner in Horsepasture, Virginia, Nathan Mortimer White and Ada Bassett White, who was an elementary school truant officer. Her father was quite the country scientist and shade tree inventor, and she said of him in her autobiography, "Another memory is going with my father to the barn each night to feed the animals there. In 1910, when Halley's Comet was seen, we watched for it and he told me all about it as we walked to the barn. He was very interested in scientific happenings and nature, and I was fascinated by the sight! What a thrill to know I had lived long enough to see Halley's Comet again in 1986. This time, however, the sight was not as wonderful! Even the scientists were disappointed in the display of Halley's Comet's tail. The next time around, I suppose my great grandchildren will be here to see the comet." As a younger woman, she had never painted seriously, but said she had always wanted to. She had taught art at of the higher grade classes in my school. While her youngest daughter was enrolled in Lynchburg College, she decided to drive to Lynchburg every week and take some art courses there. She enjoyed the classes, and later she went to