Carny at the Corn Dog Booth

"Green Help at the Corn Dog Joint"

8"x 6" Oil on gessoed board.

For the last three years my hubby and I have attended the North Georgia State Fair in September. We both have taken about fifty digital photos each year with the intent to collect reference material and art photos. With over three hundred shots to choose from, I hope to some day do a series on the subject but what really interests me are the carnies. I have begun to recognize the same workers each year and I find it intriguing to see them in their lit environments often alone and waiting. They are really in the "spot light" but with no audience; on display, but no act to perform. When they noticed me "shooting" them they were baffled that I would want a picture of them. This year I talked to many of them and told them I may paint a painting of them some day and this news was received with a small bit of interest, but mostly they took it as if they had made a friend, smiling at me each time I made it back around the midway to their area again.

My interest in these carnies prompted me to research their jargon on Wickipedia. "Green Help" or "Greenies" is a term for temporary help hired at a location. The young woman in this booth or "joint" looked to be a rather normal person that I guessed did not travel with the carnies.