Dell Hughes’ Talent Transforms Passionate Interests into Fine Art
In looking back over the list of 23 artists who’ve been featured under this byline, it is an understatement to describe the group as one of amazing diversity. When I was first asked to write this column, the name of the publication in which it appears, The Greeneville Neighbor, suggested an irresistible approach. The introduction of artists who are also among our neighbors in this community has made it possible to feature talented folks from the West Coast to upstate New York. But there is great satisfaction in turning the spotlight on the locals, those gifted individuals who are so much a part of the permanent community fabric that their talent is at risk of being taken for granted. Greeneville has benefited richly from the talent, dedication, and passionate energy of Dell Hughes. If you have attended a local theatrical production in the last twenty years, or visited local galleries and museums, or observed a Civil War reenactment, you have seen Dell’s wonderful work whether you realized it or not. So permit me to share with you some perspective that will enable you to give Dell Hughes the appreciation he has earned in Northeast Tennessee.
Most of our featured artists displayed an early talent for art, but Dell takes the cake in the “precocious” category. “I remember seeing a Mobil Oil sign with a Pegasus drawn on it,” he says. “I drew the winged horse and showed it to my mother. She didn’t believe I had drawn it so I turned the paper over and did it again. She still has that picture in a small frame. I was two and a half at the time. I’ve been drawing and painting ever since.” Even before starting school, Dell was defining his own artistic tastes. “I was reading and drawing pictures from comic books before I started the first grade,” he says. “I collected only certain types of comics with certain styles of artwork. I am a realist. The artwork had to be as detailed and as realistic as possible.” Throughout his life, Dell’s career and intense varied interests have both shaped and been expressed by his artistic efforts. Drawing and painting have broadened out into theater and film, sculpture and writing. A veteran of Vietnam, with service in both the Navy and the Army, Dell took up residence in Greeneville in the late 1980’s after a transfer from his work in Army recruiting. Born in Bradenton, Florida, of parents from South Carolina, Dell says he “never felt comfortable in the flat, hot terrain” of his native state. Early vacations in the mountains were a revelation. “I felt like I was coming home.” He met his wife Jane (who will be featured for her own artistry in this column) as his date for his high school prom. They married in 1970 and together made the move to Greene County in 1989. Dell’s affinity for the mountains proved to be no coincidence. As it happens, his family had roots in Northeast Tennessee, with branches from the Hughes family tree living in the area since before the Revolutionary War. Hughes Tavern, owned by Dell’s family, was a meeting place for John Sevier and the men planning to carve out a new state from the North Carolina territory west of the Appalachian Mountains. In Dell’s case, ancestry has taken the form of more than just a geographic attraction. “My family owned and operated a trading community near Cumberland Gap. They not only sold goods but made them, which is probably where my creativity comes from.” The variety of media in which Dell is proficient he attributes both to this genetic heritage as well as his technical work in theater, motion pictures, and reenacting. “Getting involved with theater groups and the movie industry allowed me to see that there was an outlet for my interest in creating things that did not exist and recreating things that did.” This talent was even useful in Army recruitment, for which Dell created a life-size John Wayne figure in complete battle gear, which traveled with him to schools and colleges. The result of his varied interests and love of detail has been work in an amazing array of creative forms. “I can turn my hand to metalworking, woodworking, tailoring, leathercraft, painting, and sculpting to create a piece of some historic period,” he says.
Theatergoers in this area have appreciated Dell’s talents, both as a performer and in his technical wizardry, for years. His love of history has found an outlet in reenacting drawn from several segments of America’s past, which has taken the form of both performing and craftsmanship. “For many of my interests in reenacting there is involved a duplicating of items: clothing and equipment that is no longer available.” But this affection for earlier times has also found expression for Dell in the form of fine art. In collaboration with artist/historian Dr. Robert Orr and popular local artist Joe Kilday, Dell co-created historic-themed murals for the Nathanael Greene Museum, including a panoramic image of Greeneville in the 1860’s which has appeared on a museum-fund raiser postcard and on the cover of Orr’s biography of Andrew Johnson. Sculpturally, Dell has brought forth busts of Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and of Andrew Johnson, the latter featured as part of the Andrew Johnson Bicentennial Celebration Collection at James-Ben: Studio and Gallery Art Center. It is these pieces that reflect Dell’s current emphasis and future direction. “I have really been doing more and more sculpting,” he says. “I enjoy recreating people in miniature and even life size. For the last three years I have been selling 12” articulated recreations of the characters from the old TV series Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Girl from U.N.C.L.E.. I hold the copyright on these figures and have sets of them in nine countries and more than half the states in the U.S.” This variety of expression defines Dell’s course in the future and is also something of a life plan. “I guess I’m more of a pseudo-Da Vinci in that I do art and also design gadgets and build stuff,” he says. “My art and theater keeps me young and active. I plan to retire at the age of 237.”
Such anticipated longevity gives Northeast Tennesseans a lot to look forward to from Dell Hughes. His work, featuring the Andrew Johnson bust for the Bicentennial Celebration Collection, is available with great pride at James-Ben: Studio and Gallery art Center.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Neighbor Featured Artist #23: Jane Wilson
Jane Wilson Shows Mastery in the Art of Chocolate
It occurs to me that all of the artists introduced and explored in previous columns have something in common. Their creations have longevity. Paintings, sculptures, quilts, and even songs endure long after those who have made them pass into history. So it must be observed that the definition of art cannot be based on the length of existence of its expressions. Ice sculpture is an art but it melts. Live theater is an art that exists only until the final curtain comes down. Wine-making is an art that ends when the bottle is empty. Fine food is one of the arts that is most universally appreciated but which disappears when the meal is over. Among the culinary arts, chocolate making is near the top. So Jane Wilson, proprietor and resident artist of Blue Ridge Chocolates, should attract your interest. Whether you know her already or are just meeting her in this feature, she is, by the very nature of her specialty, one of the most popular artists in Northeast Tennessee.
Jane’s chocolate has a European heritage. Her first encounter with confections was as a child and came from the impeccable hands of her German grandmother, who owned a chocolate shop in Washington, D.C. “I remember the first time I was ever in that shop,” she says. “A lady sat with her hand on a block of milk chocolate. The heat from her hand melted the chocolate and coated her palm. Then she’d coat a nut meat with the chocolate in her hand and set it on a tray with a whirling motion that made a pattern on each individual candy. I was hooked.” In practical terms, the quality that raises Jane’s own European sweets out of the ordinary comes from more than just the use of organic creams and fair trade Belgian chocolates. It comes from darker chocolate which yields a bonus in both anti-oxidants and flavor. It comes from the fact that she makes her own marzipan (starting from the whole nut), that delectable almond based paste that has the ability to take both shapes and colors. Above all, it is the fact that she brings both artistry and playfullness to her her confections that makes them irresistible.
Jane Wilson speaks with the beautiful cadence of East Tennessee and grew up near Elizabethton. The culinary arts were a family tradition; in addition to her grandmother, both her mother and aunt were caterers. Although she spent years as a resort hotel chef, her affinity with art extends into other media, particularly textile design. “My mother told me that my first creation was done when I was three and was given a needle and thread. I sewed the clothes I was wearing to the carpet.” She later studied at the Art Center Association in Louisville, and design at both ETSU and Eastern Kentucky University. Her early “attachment” to textiles led to a career in their design, with her products eventually collected in several different countries. More of her working life was spent as a chef at hotels in North Carolina. With her return to her childhood home in East Tennessee came also a return to her earliest memories of fine foods, her grandmother’s chocolate shop. “I came home both in geography and in making chocolate, which is something I really enjoy. I guess it was working my way back home.” She recalls the elegant small dinners her grandmother hosted, complete with chocolate leaves pealed from dipped rose petals, and petit fours made with candied rose petals from her tiny garden. The inventiveness of Jane’s creations; truffles, molded chocolate eggs filled with chocolate bunnies and orchids, woven birds nests with marzipan eggs, shortbreads with impressionist-style irises painted in icing, white chocolate frogs on royal-icing lily pads, chocolate bears or motorcycles on cookies, bear paws with caramel pads and almond claws; come not only from her design skills and art training but from her family role models. “My mother was a craftsperson in addition to her cooking skills. My father, who was in industrial design, taught me to think like an engineer. Making what you needed with your own hands was normal.” In her own business, Blue Ridge Chocolates, this innate inventiveness adds charm to Jane’s confections, in which marzipan carrots get their color from saffron and cranberry juice with green chlorophyll tops recreated from the memory of Jane’s grass-stained jeans.
With such artistry as part of her nature, it’s little wonder Jane Wilson found her way into James-Ben Gallery in Greeneville. “She came in, presented a tray of chocolates on the counter in front of me and said ‘this is what I do with my art school training’ ,“ recalls gallery owner James-Ben Stockton. “In her playfulness and splendid creativity, she is so much like other artists I work with except that her medium is chocolate, which has an amazing ability to bring people in the front door.” Like other affiliate artists with the gallery, she is willing to accept individual commissions. “I love to do special things for people”, she says. This proved particularly timely at a moment when Stockton was challenging his artists to create pieces to celebrate the Andrew Johnson Bicentennial. Jane responded with a gingerbread replica of the Johnson Tailor Shop, from which the dark chocolate roof can be removed to reveal Tennessee Truffles, with dark chocolate enrobing a molasses buttercream filling, a co-creation of Jane Wilson and Stockton, who conducts cooking classes himself. “Marquis Mountain South is planning a focus piece on Jane, the gingerbread Tailor Shop, and the Tennessee Truffle in their august issue,” he says.
In meeting Jane Wilson of Blue Ridge Chocolates, folks in this area have a great deal to look forward to. Even more than the availability of her confections at James-Ben Gallery, and the likelihood of more original creations in chocolate in the future, is the prospect of learning some of Jane’s secrets. “I’d enjoy teaching the craft and business of chocolate,” she says. Plans are being completed for a 3 day chocolate workshop to be offered this fall at the Gallery.
Blue Ridge Chocolates, for a discreet individual indulgence, a sampling selection, or in basic large quantity, can be found at James-Ben Gallery in downtown Greeneville.
It occurs to me that all of the artists introduced and explored in previous columns have something in common. Their creations have longevity. Paintings, sculptures, quilts, and even songs endure long after those who have made them pass into history. So it must be observed that the definition of art cannot be based on the length of existence of its expressions. Ice sculpture is an art but it melts. Live theater is an art that exists only until the final curtain comes down. Wine-making is an art that ends when the bottle is empty. Fine food is one of the arts that is most universally appreciated but which disappears when the meal is over. Among the culinary arts, chocolate making is near the top. So Jane Wilson, proprietor and resident artist of Blue Ridge Chocolates, should attract your interest. Whether you know her already or are just meeting her in this feature, she is, by the very nature of her specialty, one of the most popular artists in Northeast Tennessee.
Jane’s chocolate has a European heritage. Her first encounter with confections was as a child and came from the impeccable hands of her German grandmother, who owned a chocolate shop in Washington, D.C. “I remember the first time I was ever in that shop,” she says. “A lady sat with her hand on a block of milk chocolate. The heat from her hand melted the chocolate and coated her palm. Then she’d coat a nut meat with the chocolate in her hand and set it on a tray with a whirling motion that made a pattern on each individual candy. I was hooked.” In practical terms, the quality that raises Jane’s own European sweets out of the ordinary comes from more than just the use of organic creams and fair trade Belgian chocolates. It comes from darker chocolate which yields a bonus in both anti-oxidants and flavor. It comes from the fact that she makes her own marzipan (starting from the whole nut), that delectable almond based paste that has the ability to take both shapes and colors. Above all, it is the fact that she brings both artistry and playfullness to her her confections that makes them irresistible.
Jane Wilson speaks with the beautiful cadence of East Tennessee and grew up near Elizabethton. The culinary arts were a family tradition; in addition to her grandmother, both her mother and aunt were caterers. Although she spent years as a resort hotel chef, her affinity with art extends into other media, particularly textile design. “My mother told me that my first creation was done when I was three and was given a needle and thread. I sewed the clothes I was wearing to the carpet.” She later studied at the Art Center Association in Louisville, and design at both ETSU and Eastern Kentucky University. Her early “attachment” to textiles led to a career in their design, with her products eventually collected in several different countries. More of her working life was spent as a chef at hotels in North Carolina. With her return to her childhood home in East Tennessee came also a return to her earliest memories of fine foods, her grandmother’s chocolate shop. “I came home both in geography and in making chocolate, which is something I really enjoy. I guess it was working my way back home.” She recalls the elegant small dinners her grandmother hosted, complete with chocolate leaves pealed from dipped rose petals, and petit fours made with candied rose petals from her tiny garden. The inventiveness of Jane’s creations; truffles, molded chocolate eggs filled with chocolate bunnies and orchids, woven birds nests with marzipan eggs, shortbreads with impressionist-style irises painted in icing, white chocolate frogs on royal-icing lily pads, chocolate bears or motorcycles on cookies, bear paws with caramel pads and almond claws; come not only from her design skills and art training but from her family role models. “My mother was a craftsperson in addition to her cooking skills. My father, who was in industrial design, taught me to think like an engineer. Making what you needed with your own hands was normal.” In her own business, Blue Ridge Chocolates, this innate inventiveness adds charm to Jane’s confections, in which marzipan carrots get their color from saffron and cranberry juice with green chlorophyll tops recreated from the memory of Jane’s grass-stained jeans.
With such artistry as part of her nature, it’s little wonder Jane Wilson found her way into James-Ben Gallery in Greeneville. “She came in, presented a tray of chocolates on the counter in front of me and said ‘this is what I do with my art school training’ ,“ recalls gallery owner James-Ben Stockton. “In her playfulness and splendid creativity, she is so much like other artists I work with except that her medium is chocolate, which has an amazing ability to bring people in the front door.” Like other affiliate artists with the gallery, she is willing to accept individual commissions. “I love to do special things for people”, she says. This proved particularly timely at a moment when Stockton was challenging his artists to create pieces to celebrate the Andrew Johnson Bicentennial. Jane responded with a gingerbread replica of the Johnson Tailor Shop, from which the dark chocolate roof can be removed to reveal Tennessee Truffles, with dark chocolate enrobing a molasses buttercream filling, a co-creation of Jane Wilson and Stockton, who conducts cooking classes himself. “Marquis Mountain South is planning a focus piece on Jane, the gingerbread Tailor Shop, and the Tennessee Truffle in their august issue,” he says.
In meeting Jane Wilson of Blue Ridge Chocolates, folks in this area have a great deal to look forward to. Even more than the availability of her confections at James-Ben Gallery, and the likelihood of more original creations in chocolate in the future, is the prospect of learning some of Jane’s secrets. “I’d enjoy teaching the craft and business of chocolate,” she says. Plans are being completed for a 3 day chocolate workshop to be offered this fall at the Gallery.
Blue Ridge Chocolates, for a discreet individual indulgence, a sampling selection, or in basic large quantity, can be found at James-Ben Gallery in downtown Greeneville.
Neighbor Featured Artist #22: Dane Hinkle on CD Baby
Dane Hinkle Spreading His Wings as Independent Singer/Songwriter
Folks who read this column know who Dane Hinkle is because of his music and his previous feature as a Neighbor artist. But now, so do music lovers in Germany, England, Japan - and all over the world. When something wonderful happens to one of your neighbors, you want to know about it. Dane is a rising star among independent musicians who have discovered that the Internet has the power to reach a global audience and the flexibility to let ordinary people with extraordinary talent stay true to their roots while letting their light shine forth. His evocative blend of folk and rock with a base of soulful harmonica has caught your ear for the past several years. Now CD Baby, one of the world’s largest online CD distributors and sources for digital downloads, currently has Dane's latest CD “Me Now” premiered at #21 among its Editor’s Picks in the acid rock genre. CD Baby was founded in the late 1990’s by a full-time independent musician as a means to sell his own music online. His efforts attracted the attention of musician friends and colleagues in a similar situation and grew into a thriving business. CD Baby has been described as the “utopian” online store for independent musicians; the artists get most of the income from their sales and deal with a distributor that values the integrity of those it represents. CD Baby operates from four solid principles – its artists are paid weekly, they receive contact information about the fans who buy their products, there are no minimum sales in order to stay on the active roster, and the company accepts no advertising or paid placement of music. Every CD distributed has been “juried”; listened to and given the thumbs up or down by the CD Baby staff. Since 2004, the online company has offered the option of digital music downloads through such sources as Apple iTunes, Emusic, and Napster. Nearly a quarter of a million musicians make their work available through CD Baby, making Dane Hinkle’s current place among the editors picks especially worthy of bragging rights. Since its founding, the company has sold more than 4.5 million CD’s worldwide and paid out more than 75 million dollars to independent musicians.. For Dane Hinkle, music was the focus through which he healed the emotional wounds of years of dangerous work as a smoke jumper firefighter. For the past seven years, the writing, performing, and recording of his own music and songs has become an increasing commitment through which he’s traveled a long road in a short amount of time. “I guess I’m most comfortable with the label ‘singer/songwriter’,” he says. While speaking very little about the hazardous work that is now a part of his past, he acknowledges its worth in the music he’s now expressing. “The most important thing I’ve learned is that you can’t be afraid of what’s coming out of you. Music is about emotion and the experiences I had out in the field gave me some scary lessons in what ‘real’ feels like. Your emotions were completely uncensored.” His early efforts in song-writing came through from dreams and he still receives inspiration from this source. Much of the distinctive style that can be heard on Dane's recordings is the result of his need to manage his own spontaneity. “I bought my own recording studio because I’d wake up in the middle of the night with a song. I can stumble over and get the basics laid down and then I don’t have to try and remember it when I wake up in the morning.” He took the same care in mastering the technical aspects of recording as he has in writing and performing his music, spending about a year becoming proficient with his digital recording equipment. He plays all the instruments as well as doing all the vocals on his recordings because it gives him greater control over the final sound. “I think wanting that degree of control isn’t so much ego as it is being honest,” he says. “A painter wouldn’t be happy letting someone else put the final brush strokes on a landscape or portrait. I sit in the studio and the music is what comes out of me. Some people, even kids who aren’t old enough to remember, say my songs take them back to the ‘60’s. But I’m just letting it come out, not making a statement – if they hear politics or protest, it’s because essential, powerful, defining music was such an part of the ‘60’s." I was interested that CD Baby described the “Me Now” CD as a mix of Piedmont blues, rockabilly, and acid rock.” Because of the spontaneity of his creative style, Dane has taught himself to do all his own instrumentation as a matter of convenience. As a result, he can capably find his way around vocals and bass, lead electric, and acoustic guitars. “I really feel like I’m most proficient on the harmonica,” he says. “I also like to play with other bands and do some harmonica solos but not as the front man.” But he also feels that his one-man approach to producing his music has created some of the attraction generating its increasing popularity. “Since the harmonica is what I do best, I feel that the music is noticed and picked because it has the element of sincerity and simplicity – the sound isn’t overproduced because I’m not as proficient with the other instruments.” Even with a finished product that is notable for simplicity, Dane is aware of an increasing commitment to his music - “I put more than 2000 hours of studio time into ‘Me Now’.” – and pleased with both his own progress and the reaction he’s getting. “I like it that the kids are picking up on my songs. It’s that 1960’s connection – we’re getting back to a place where the changes around us are reflected by the music we make and listen to. I don’t know what the odds are of having gotten this degree of recognition from such self-made creativity in such a short amount of time.” Dane Hinkle can be heard in live performances here in Greeneville, including regular Thursday appearances in the Brumley at the General Morgan Inn and at Ella’s, now open on East Andrew Johnson Highway next to Popcorn Video. His CD’s are proudly available locally at James-Ben: Studio and Gallery Art Center, and online both in CD form and in digital downloads (including #21, Editor’s Pick acid rock, “Me Now”) at CD Baby.
Folks who read this column know who Dane Hinkle is because of his music and his previous feature as a Neighbor artist. But now, so do music lovers in Germany, England, Japan - and all over the world. When something wonderful happens to one of your neighbors, you want to know about it. Dane is a rising star among independent musicians who have discovered that the Internet has the power to reach a global audience and the flexibility to let ordinary people with extraordinary talent stay true to their roots while letting their light shine forth. His evocative blend of folk and rock with a base of soulful harmonica has caught your ear for the past several years. Now CD Baby, one of the world’s largest online CD distributors and sources for digital downloads, currently has Dane's latest CD “Me Now” premiered at #21 among its Editor’s Picks in the acid rock genre. CD Baby was founded in the late 1990’s by a full-time independent musician as a means to sell his own music online. His efforts attracted the attention of musician friends and colleagues in a similar situation and grew into a thriving business. CD Baby has been described as the “utopian” online store for independent musicians; the artists get most of the income from their sales and deal with a distributor that values the integrity of those it represents. CD Baby operates from four solid principles – its artists are paid weekly, they receive contact information about the fans who buy their products, there are no minimum sales in order to stay on the active roster, and the company accepts no advertising or paid placement of music. Every CD distributed has been “juried”; listened to and given the thumbs up or down by the CD Baby staff. Since 2004, the online company has offered the option of digital music downloads through such sources as Apple iTunes, Emusic, and Napster. Nearly a quarter of a million musicians make their work available through CD Baby, making Dane Hinkle’s current place among the editors picks especially worthy of bragging rights. Since its founding, the company has sold more than 4.5 million CD’s worldwide and paid out more than 75 million dollars to independent musicians.. For Dane Hinkle, music was the focus through which he healed the emotional wounds of years of dangerous work as a smoke jumper firefighter. For the past seven years, the writing, performing, and recording of his own music and songs has become an increasing commitment through which he’s traveled a long road in a short amount of time. “I guess I’m most comfortable with the label ‘singer/songwriter’,” he says. While speaking very little about the hazardous work that is now a part of his past, he acknowledges its worth in the music he’s now expressing. “The most important thing I’ve learned is that you can’t be afraid of what’s coming out of you. Music is about emotion and the experiences I had out in the field gave me some scary lessons in what ‘real’ feels like. Your emotions were completely uncensored.” His early efforts in song-writing came through from dreams and he still receives inspiration from this source. Much of the distinctive style that can be heard on Dane's recordings is the result of his need to manage his own spontaneity. “I bought my own recording studio because I’d wake up in the middle of the night with a song. I can stumble over and get the basics laid down and then I don’t have to try and remember it when I wake up in the morning.” He took the same care in mastering the technical aspects of recording as he has in writing and performing his music, spending about a year becoming proficient with his digital recording equipment. He plays all the instruments as well as doing all the vocals on his recordings because it gives him greater control over the final sound. “I think wanting that degree of control isn’t so much ego as it is being honest,” he says. “A painter wouldn’t be happy letting someone else put the final brush strokes on a landscape or portrait. I sit in the studio and the music is what comes out of me. Some people, even kids who aren’t old enough to remember, say my songs take them back to the ‘60’s. But I’m just letting it come out, not making a statement – if they hear politics or protest, it’s because essential, powerful, defining music was such an part of the ‘60’s." I was interested that CD Baby described the “Me Now” CD as a mix of Piedmont blues, rockabilly, and acid rock.” Because of the spontaneity of his creative style, Dane has taught himself to do all his own instrumentation as a matter of convenience. As a result, he can capably find his way around vocals and bass, lead electric, and acoustic guitars. “I really feel like I’m most proficient on the harmonica,” he says. “I also like to play with other bands and do some harmonica solos but not as the front man.” But he also feels that his one-man approach to producing his music has created some of the attraction generating its increasing popularity. “Since the harmonica is what I do best, I feel that the music is noticed and picked because it has the element of sincerity and simplicity – the sound isn’t overproduced because I’m not as proficient with the other instruments.” Even with a finished product that is notable for simplicity, Dane is aware of an increasing commitment to his music - “I put more than 2000 hours of studio time into ‘Me Now’.” – and pleased with both his own progress and the reaction he’s getting. “I like it that the kids are picking up on my songs. It’s that 1960’s connection – we’re getting back to a place where the changes around us are reflected by the music we make and listen to. I don’t know what the odds are of having gotten this degree of recognition from such self-made creativity in such a short amount of time.” Dane Hinkle can be heard in live performances here in Greeneville, including regular Thursday appearances in the Brumley at the General Morgan Inn and at Ella’s, now open on East Andrew Johnson Highway next to Popcorn Video. His CD’s are proudly available locally at James-Ben: Studio and Gallery Art Center, and online both in CD form and in digital downloads (including #21, Editor’s Pick acid rock, “Me Now”) at CD Baby.
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