Neighbor Featured Artist #12: Mark Goodman

Artist Mark Goodman Paints Jazz

I have always been impressed with the passions that motivate artists. They add fuel to a kind of inner fire, both inspiring and energizing the creation of works which then can have the same motivational effect on others. Within the world of music, America’s unique contribution, jazz, represents one of the most passionate genres available to both composer/performers and listeners. For the artist featured in this column, the sounds of jazz have inspired a body of visual work as vibrant and colorful as the music that motivated its creation. Mark Goodman paints jazz.
Mark Goodman is a Michigan native whose work as a graphics artist has taken him to positions all over the country. He was precocious in art and remembers scribbling in pencil on any flat surface he could find. This included, he admits, “tables (which I still do) and my favorite, under my mom’s piano bench, where she couldn’t see the primitive art and I wouldn’t get in trouble!” He is mostly self-taught in drawing and painting although he credits teachers at all levels in school with recognizing and encouraging his talent. He specializes in art direction for weekly newspapers, a profession he entered while still living in Michigan. It was while in such a position with the Nashville Scene that he first wandered into James-Ben: Studio and Galleries in Franklin, TN. “He happened to be carrying some photographs of his paintings. Like many graphic artists he did art work that was more an expression of his personal style. In Mark’s case, most of the images were non-representational but done in what he considered the colors of jazz, particularly the cool blues and hot reds,” says gallery director James-Ben Stockton. One photograph grabbed hold of Stockton’s interest. “It was an abstracted image of a saxophone player. I remember waving it at Mark and saying ‘This! Show me more of this!’” To say that the rest is history would be an inappropriate use of understatement. From that interaction came more than Stockton had bargained for. “The next time I saw Mark, he showed me the first of his ‘jazz portraits’.” “I had always done cartooning and illustrating. It wasn’t until 1996 that I started painting in acrylics on canvas. One of my proudest moments was seeing my first show with James-Ben - it was the place where my parents first saw my art on display.”
Music was also an important part of Mark’s life from childhood. His mother and both sisters played the piano and he remembers plenty of records with everything from classical to showtunes to the Beatles. “I’m crazy about jazz,” he says. “Since I can’t sing or play an instrument, the best way I c ould connect to jazz was to paint with the music cranked up around me.” As a particular jazz portrait took shape on canvas or paper, that particular artist’s sound guided Mark to evocative representations. Although the faces were and are instantly recognizable, the paintings are often named for a song composed by or made famous by that artist. Over time, Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington, Thelonius Monk, Frank Sinatra, Bill Evans, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, and many other legends of the genre have reappeared through Mark’s gifted interpretation. His association with James-Ben: Studio and Gallery over more than a decade has proved satisfying both creatively and financially. Even after relocating first to the Denver area and then to Fort Worth, Texas in his capacity as an art director, his connection to the gallery was and still is fresh and vital. The act of having worked in concert to produce a successful painting series proved self-perpetuating. “Mark’s skill as a graphic artist, with his splendid use of color and composition, is made even more marvelous artistically when he creates a piece that feeds his soul as well,” says Stockton. “His work has consistently sold well because its quality leaps off the wall.”
Part of Mark Goodman’s success is due to his genuine devotion to the music that inspires him. Through the gallery, he supported the Franklin Jazz Festival, not only making trips back to Tennessee to attend the event but donating the use of his images to promote the festival. “There are a lot of folks, myself included, who have Mark’s Louis Armstrong image in their collection of prized t-shirts,” says Stockton. The original painting, as well as that first effort, the abstracted sax player, went into private collections in Middle Tennessee. It is a blessing that Mark Goodman’s art, along with the warm friendship of Mark and his wife Patty, relocated with James-Ben: Studio and Gallery to Northeast Tennessee as well. “We displayed Mark’s jazz portraits even before we opened the gallery doors in an exhibit at the Capitol Theater,” says Stockton. Recently, Mark and Patty Goodman visited Greeneville and, along with his jazz portraits, generously participated in Jazz at the Carnegie. Part of the proceeds from the sale of the paintings benefitted both the ETSU Jazz Ensemble and the Niswonger Children’s Hospital. “I was very proud to help out a cause I really believe in, and hope to do it again,” says Mark. “I love Greeneville and enjoyed meeting all the wonderful people there.” The next exhibit of Mark Goodman art will be in the soon-to-open Ella’s restaurant in the former Bellacino’s location. “The paintings will be a tremendous asset in creating the warm atmosphere of good food, good music, and fine art,” says Stockton.
Greeneville can look forward to being the recipient of new artistic explorations from Mark. “I would like to branch out into all kinds of music art, maybe some bluegrass, as well as rock, punk, and blues. All of that has influenced me like jazz, which is my fondest music of all. Jazz is a sweet lady,” he says. As a matter of fact, Mark’s assertion that he paints jazz from a lack of musical talent may be proven wrong in the bluegrass genre. A mandolin made the the trip with him to Greeneville and produced some mighty fine notes during their visit. In addition to its upcoming debut at Ella’s, Mark Goodman’s paintings continue to be locally available and displayed with great affection and pride at James-Ben: Studio and Gallery Art Center.