A Time for Counting Blessings
Because I am hearing impaired, I have to admit that for many years I didn’t give much attention to birds. After getting my first hearing aids, I remember commenting to a loved one that suddenly it seemed as though the birds were shouting at the top of their lungs as I walked along Main Street. The partial restoration of my ability to hear has made a major difference in my life. Friends tell me I’m more involved in the world around me. The telephone is no longer the obstacle it once was. My experience of music, which I have always loved, is much deeper and richer than ever. I’ve had the pleasure of rediscovering movies and plays through the delight of hearing words, phrases, and significant moments previously missed. It’s as though I’ve come out of a shell and had to learn how to pay attention from the confinement of letting so much pass by as unimportant because I couldn’t hear it anyway. But I think I will never forget that birdsong was the first thing to break through my self-imposed isolation.
Despite all this, I was still puzzled in this last week by the fact that I was noticing birds so particularly. Doves on Monument Hill flew into my awareness. Mockingbirds dive bombed robins and starlings in aggressive defense of their territory. Cardinals in vivid red made such a good match for their ladies in more matronly rust tones. Then I saw a plump, sassy blue jay and I knew why I had birds on the brain. They were a continuing reminder of our friend Lynne Olka.
If you keep up with this column, you may remember that Lynne was one of the first artists featured here. She died recently, weeks after an automobile accident put her in a coma. Her death was one that produced mixed emotions, sadness and grief for a friend gone so suddenly from our lives combined with relief for a creative, talented soul released from a body that had lost the ability to express itself. Getting older includes an increasing familiarity with death and its consequences. It becomes easier to place departed ones within the great pattern of life. Whether this is an example of wisdom or just a coping mechanism for our own inevitable mortality I do not know. I do know that Lynne Olka’s passing is a deeply felt loss for both myself and her close friend, gallery director James-Ben Stockton.
Although the images surrounding this text will help you understand, those of us who knew her personally immediately recognize why birds are such good symbols for Lynne and her life. They were the frequent subject of her art work. They were her dear friends and pets. “While I was always glad to see Lynne come in the door of the gallery,” says James-Ben Stockton, “it was such a special treat when she brought one or more of her parrots with her.” Her sister Bonnie remembers that she would carry fledgling parrots that she’d rescued in her sleeves as she went about her errands. It was her prismacolor blue jay image that came to mind when I saw that sassy bird in a walnut tree and knew exactly who would be the subject of this column. Aside from her painting, birds were Lynne’s passionate interest and it must be noted that she exemplified the old axiom about the resemblence between humans and their pets. With her large, round glasses and short hair and stature, Lynne often made me think of Archimedes, Merlin’s owl in “The Sword in the Stone”. When something engaged her interest, the glasses went swiftly to the top of her head and laser-like attention was directed at the source.
I previously shared with you some of Lynne’s biography - her birth in New York state and upbringing in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She was fortunate in being able to spend much of her working life in art-related fields such as illustration, design and layout for various print media. When I interviewed her for her feature in the Neighbor/Artist column, it was obvious that she got tremendous enjoyment from the work that combined her restless creativity and professional career. Hers was a life characterized by hard work and personal challenges; during her last years here in Greeneville, which we were privileged to share, she dealt with bouts of ill-health including severe allergies. James-Ben Stockton recalls that she shared her friendship through good and bad. “We would talk for hours, about all sorts of things,” he says. “Lynne was always interested in starting a new project. It pleased me that she used her interaction with the gallery, and the creativity it inspired, as a way of healing herself.” Over the past few years Lynne’s use of her talent in specific projects for James-Ben Art Center resulted in an amazing variety of art work. Handpainted reproductions of pages from the medieval St. Gall Gospel Book showed her mastery of illustration. Tiny framed Christmas ornaments revealed her affection for animals. Her gift for portraiture brought joy to local families and led to new growth as an artist. “In response to the gallery emphasis on art with historic themes, Lynne developed ‘story portraits’,” says James-Ben. “In these, she not only painted an historic figure but included items significant to that person’s life and career. Among her last works were images of Andrew Johnson and Davy Crockett. The Johnson image was one of the best contributions to our Andrew Johnson Bicentennial Celebration Collection.”
Like James-Ben, I am very sad for the departure of a friend. As with other talented artists, there is always regret for the creative works that will never be. But Lynne left us with a loving gift. My last memory of Lynne is of her throwing back her head in uproarious laughter as she told us stories of her youthful indiscretions. From the twinkle in her eye, I could tell she would have been happy to do them all again. It is always appropriate, at times of difficulty even more than when all is copacetic, to count your blessings. Lynne Olka was one of mine.
Goodbye, dear friend.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Neighbor Featured Artist #25: Nancy Jane Earnest
Nancy Jane Earnest Finds Authenticity in the Art of Life
There is a conventional wisdom belief that artists must suffer for their art and that success in one or more of the creative media comes only after the paying of one’s dues. The fact that devoting a life to art is seen as risky and likely to be unsuccessful explains why so many parents of budding artists have encouraged their offspring to “get a real job.” Yet the “neighbors” we’ve introduced in previous columns, as well as the delightful one we’ll meet in this one have given over both careers and lives to creative expression. The fact that so many of them have retained and continued throughout their lives the playful vision of their childhoods suggests to me that their art is as innate a part of them as their hair and eye color. Fortunately, conventional wisdom is often wrong. Not only are many artists successful in their own terms, many also have the good sense to realize that art is something to be enjoyed, not suffered over. Nancy Jane Earnest, native Greene Countian and a pixie-like self described “renegade painter”, has an ample sufficiency of this good sense, in equal measure with her talent and potent personal energy. If you don’t already know her, allow me to make the connection.
Since, in describing Nancy Jane, I just made reference to certain elfen qualities, don’t assume that this implies any delicacy in the expression and energy she gives to her art. Think of Tinker Belle portrayed by Dame Judi Dench and you’ll have a better picture. It takes a robust spirit to excel in writing, illustrating, painting, jewelry-making, and both vocal and instrumental music. “I am a perpetual student,” she says, “of art, music, and life.” Of all the vivid personalities profiled in this column, none has deeper roots in this area - Earnest is one of the oldest surnames in Greene County. In Nancy Jane’s case, it is appropriate to take her “perpetual student” label seriously. She holds three degrees from East Tennessee State University, a BS in English, an MFA in jewelry and metalsmithing, and a recent MA in counseling. “I will easily convince you that my life is a cultural banquet, filled with musical instruments to learn, concerts to attend, landscapes to paint, stories to write, and friendships to cultivate,” she says. The list of her accomplishments and activities is exhausting to read, let alone to imagine one person actually experiencing but since Nancy Jane is one of the first artists I met when I moved to Greeneville, I can attest both to the extent of her talents and the variety of their expressions. After gaining her MFA, she spent years in the world of goldsmithing, designing, creating, and repairing jewelry. She teaches art in several different media in creativity workshops, and music as a private instructor. This is juxtaposed with her own continuing studies in these same fields. She is sought after for her free lance work in writing and illustration. As a performer, she appears with the Johnson City Civic Chorale and the Johnson City Community Concert Band, and is the founder of Woodnote Early Music Ensemble. In painting, she has followed a similar template, studying with some of the country’s best known artists, exhibiting in both one person and group shows, and sharing these experiences through teaching. The completion of her Masters in counseling was an outgrowth of Nancy Jane’s lifestyle rather than a departure from it. She has created for herself a world in which art and life are inseparable and seamlessly connected. “My home is my studio; my life is my hobby,” she says. “I never intended to sit on the sidelines of life. I am a participant - a celebrant.”
Nancy Jane’s personal history is enrobed in creative experiences. In memories of her younger self, she recalls her habit of early rising as allowing for a lot of time spent amusing herself in the morning. “My bedroom was heated by a space heater that had a large flat top and was a light cream color. I remember placing pieces of broken crayon on top of the heater and watching as the colors swirled together when the crayons melted. Then I’d put a piece of paper on top to soak it up.” A second-grade success came with an award for a drawing of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Drawing expanded into painting, in a way that can still be seen in Nancy Jane’s distinctive richly textured impressionist style. “I was bitten by the painting bug at 12, when family friends gave me an oil painting set. Knowing nothing about how to use it, I just started squirting paint from those little tubes and I’ve been a renegade painter ever since.” During high school, her father gave her a Famous Artist correspondence course but she got the chance for formal training while at ETSU. “I’m proud of the fact that I received the very first jewelry MFA that ETSU gave,” she says. Her professor in this field proved to be an example of the best a university setting can offer, giving instruction in commercial production as well as the creation of artistic show pieces. One less than stellar painting teacher, she remembers, advised his students to “paint what you feel.” “And I felt it was a cop out. But looking back, it may have been good advice in that it helped me establish my own style early on.” Nancy Jane’s most recent degree in counseling meant a return to the world of academia but, as noted before, this more psychological field is not separate from the art that is her long-established way of experiencing life. “I’ve covered a lot of ground in all the years I’ve been a producing artist,” she says. “Something new for me would be the creation of a line of greeting cards that would feature my art work as well as my sentiments. It would be a form of subliminal counseling.”
“Nancy Jane and I have several places where our artistis world’s intersect,” says James-Ben Stockton, director of Greeneville’s regional art center. “I also studied metalsmithing in college with a particularly influential professor in that field. And as far as painting goes, a well done impressionist piece will always catch my eye. Nancy Jane’s new collection of landscapes, twelve by twelves in oil on gallery-wrapped canvas, are hanging where I can always see them when I’m working with clients.” For Greeneville locals who would like to get better acquainted with Nancy Jane Earnest and her art, James-Ben Art Center, which proudly represents her, is a fine place to begin.
There is a conventional wisdom belief that artists must suffer for their art and that success in one or more of the creative media comes only after the paying of one’s dues. The fact that devoting a life to art is seen as risky and likely to be unsuccessful explains why so many parents of budding artists have encouraged their offspring to “get a real job.” Yet the “neighbors” we’ve introduced in previous columns, as well as the delightful one we’ll meet in this one have given over both careers and lives to creative expression. The fact that so many of them have retained and continued throughout their lives the playful vision of their childhoods suggests to me that their art is as innate a part of them as their hair and eye color. Fortunately, conventional wisdom is often wrong. Not only are many artists successful in their own terms, many also have the good sense to realize that art is something to be enjoyed, not suffered over. Nancy Jane Earnest, native Greene Countian and a pixie-like self described “renegade painter”, has an ample sufficiency of this good sense, in equal measure with her talent and potent personal energy. If you don’t already know her, allow me to make the connection.
Since, in describing Nancy Jane, I just made reference to certain elfen qualities, don’t assume that this implies any delicacy in the expression and energy she gives to her art. Think of Tinker Belle portrayed by Dame Judi Dench and you’ll have a better picture. It takes a robust spirit to excel in writing, illustrating, painting, jewelry-making, and both vocal and instrumental music. “I am a perpetual student,” she says, “of art, music, and life.” Of all the vivid personalities profiled in this column, none has deeper roots in this area - Earnest is one of the oldest surnames in Greene County. In Nancy Jane’s case, it is appropriate to take her “perpetual student” label seriously. She holds three degrees from East Tennessee State University, a BS in English, an MFA in jewelry and metalsmithing, and a recent MA in counseling. “I will easily convince you that my life is a cultural banquet, filled with musical instruments to learn, concerts to attend, landscapes to paint, stories to write, and friendships to cultivate,” she says. The list of her accomplishments and activities is exhausting to read, let alone to imagine one person actually experiencing but since Nancy Jane is one of the first artists I met when I moved to Greeneville, I can attest both to the extent of her talents and the variety of their expressions. After gaining her MFA, she spent years in the world of goldsmithing, designing, creating, and repairing jewelry. She teaches art in several different media in creativity workshops, and music as a private instructor. This is juxtaposed with her own continuing studies in these same fields. She is sought after for her free lance work in writing and illustration. As a performer, she appears with the Johnson City Civic Chorale and the Johnson City Community Concert Band, and is the founder of Woodnote Early Music Ensemble. In painting, she has followed a similar template, studying with some of the country’s best known artists, exhibiting in both one person and group shows, and sharing these experiences through teaching. The completion of her Masters in counseling was an outgrowth of Nancy Jane’s lifestyle rather than a departure from it. She has created for herself a world in which art and life are inseparable and seamlessly connected. “My home is my studio; my life is my hobby,” she says. “I never intended to sit on the sidelines of life. I am a participant - a celebrant.”
Nancy Jane’s personal history is enrobed in creative experiences. In memories of her younger self, she recalls her habit of early rising as allowing for a lot of time spent amusing herself in the morning. “My bedroom was heated by a space heater that had a large flat top and was a light cream color. I remember placing pieces of broken crayon on top of the heater and watching as the colors swirled together when the crayons melted. Then I’d put a piece of paper on top to soak it up.” A second-grade success came with an award for a drawing of the Three Billy Goats Gruff. Drawing expanded into painting, in a way that can still be seen in Nancy Jane’s distinctive richly textured impressionist style. “I was bitten by the painting bug at 12, when family friends gave me an oil painting set. Knowing nothing about how to use it, I just started squirting paint from those little tubes and I’ve been a renegade painter ever since.” During high school, her father gave her a Famous Artist correspondence course but she got the chance for formal training while at ETSU. “I’m proud of the fact that I received the very first jewelry MFA that ETSU gave,” she says. Her professor in this field proved to be an example of the best a university setting can offer, giving instruction in commercial production as well as the creation of artistic show pieces. One less than stellar painting teacher, she remembers, advised his students to “paint what you feel.” “And I felt it was a cop out. But looking back, it may have been good advice in that it helped me establish my own style early on.” Nancy Jane’s most recent degree in counseling meant a return to the world of academia but, as noted before, this more psychological field is not separate from the art that is her long-established way of experiencing life. “I’ve covered a lot of ground in all the years I’ve been a producing artist,” she says. “Something new for me would be the creation of a line of greeting cards that would feature my art work as well as my sentiments. It would be a form of subliminal counseling.”
“Nancy Jane and I have several places where our artistis world’s intersect,” says James-Ben Stockton, director of Greeneville’s regional art center. “I also studied metalsmithing in college with a particularly influential professor in that field. And as far as painting goes, a well done impressionist piece will always catch my eye. Nancy Jane’s new collection of landscapes, twelve by twelves in oil on gallery-wrapped canvas, are hanging where I can always see them when I’m working with clients.” For Greeneville locals who would like to get better acquainted with Nancy Jane Earnest and her art, James-Ben Art Center, which proudly represents her, is a fine place to begin.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Neighbor Featured Artist #24: Dell Hughes
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.
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.
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.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Neighbor Featured Artist #21: "Dusty" Anderson
Artist Dusty Anderson An Innovator in Glass Imagery
I have a confession to make. Even though I consider myself an artist, I can’t draw worth a flip. In previous columns you’ve heard me go on about how broadly I define art, how many different expressions it can take, and all that is absolutely true. That being said, maybe it’s fair to say that we really admire the things we can’t do ourselves. So in my heart of hearts, my greatest admiration in art is reserved for the artists I designate with a capital A, - those who who can draw. Something about the ability to create in lifelike two dimensions that which actually exists in three seems miraculous to me. Many years spent in association with the arts has not lessened this feeling for me. If anything, becoming informed about the many different ways images can be created has widened my appreciation for them all. When I find a new technique that I haven’t seen before, it’s like discovering art all over again. This was my reaction on first seeing the work of Dusty Anderson, whose creations in glass bridge the gap between drawing and carving. It is for situations like this that I’m glad that this column includes visual images so you don’t have to rely on my descriptions to appreciate Dusty’s pieces. I’ll be very much surprised if you don’t find them as amazing as I did.
Dusty Anderson is from Michigan by birth, from the South by upbringing, and a free spirit by inclination. “My Father’s job moved us to Alabama when I was young,” she says. “Growing up on the Chattahoochee River had to have helped shape my love for wildlife art.” She displayed a talent for drawing and illustration while in high school, and did “silly cartoon t-shirts for classmates”, even realizing that she could earn some money along the way. But this creativity was self-guided. “Growing up and going to small schools meant that I never had any art classes until I attended college.” Encouragement for Dusty, not only to draw but to think creatively and originally, came from her mother. “She provided blank paper and colors instead of coloring books,” she says. In her late teens, she went out on her own to, as she says to “find myself”. She supported herself with her art work and by her sign painting skills. In the 1980’s, Dusty’s mother encouraged her to go back to school to see if she could channel her talent into a career in advertising design. “I enjoyed the life drawing class,” she says, “but I found I was a ‘mood-drawer’ . I could meet the assignment deadlines but found that I didn’t do my best work under those restrictions.” She also encountered an experience common to many good artists, including several featured in this column. “I was told by a teacher that everything I knew about drawing and art was wrong - that I had to forget it and learn how to do it their way. That irked me, since I had been selling my art since I was fifteen and figured my way couldn’t be all wrong.” James-Ben Stockton, local director of Greeneville’s regional gallery,who appreciated Dusty’s work from the moment she walked through his front door, wasn’t surprised to hear this story. “I have had so many good artists tell of being victimized by bad art teachers that it seems like a sort of rite of passage for them. The only positive thing I can say about such experiences is that, for the artists who persevere inspite of such treatment, these experiences seem to motivate them to be true to their own originality.” Toward the end of her college soujourn, Dusty got the chance to paint the lettering on the town’s water tower. “I knew then that a degree in advertising design wasn’t going to be for me.”
The pathway into her current art form, which is engraving/carving on glass, came from a personal motivation. “I had an old van that I’d painted a dusty rose,” she says. “I wanted roses carved into the windows and found someone who could do the work but who quoted me more than I could afford. Being an artist myself, I decided to try my hand at it and have really enjoyed developing my technique into the fine lines and details that I’m able to achieve now.” The subject matter for Dusty’s pieces was influenced by those childhood memories of growing up on Alabama’s Chattahoochee River. Wolves, deer, turkeys, owls, bears, and racoons have come to life through her artistry. (As a heads-up to the families of outdoorsmen in the area, these pieces would make wonderful Father’s Day gifts!) Dusty’s skill has recently led her to branch out into portraiture in glass. A fine example is a marvelous image of Andrew Johnson, done in honor of the 17th president’s 200th birthday (http://www.james-ben.com/johnson_collection.htm). Dusty can work from photographs and notes that portraits are not necessarily limited to people. “Her motorcycle portraits are dynamite,” says gallery director Stockton. Dusty’s work is available by individual commission.
Like many others, Dusty Anderson has found this region to be a wonderful haven for a restless soul. “Over the years, I’ve moved around this fantastic country quite a bit, but when I found East Tennessee, I feel I’ve finally come home.” As with other creative transplants to the area, the move has been both satisfying and stimulating. “By meeting other artists and going to art shows, I’m constantly finding new forms of art I’d like to try,” she says. Considering the success of her current creativity, the possibilities for Dusty are worthy of eager anticipation. Her work is locally available and original commissions can be arranged through James-Ben: Studio and Gallery Art Center.
I have a confession to make. Even though I consider myself an artist, I can’t draw worth a flip. In previous columns you’ve heard me go on about how broadly I define art, how many different expressions it can take, and all that is absolutely true. That being said, maybe it’s fair to say that we really admire the things we can’t do ourselves. So in my heart of hearts, my greatest admiration in art is reserved for the artists I designate with a capital A, - those who who can draw. Something about the ability to create in lifelike two dimensions that which actually exists in three seems miraculous to me. Many years spent in association with the arts has not lessened this feeling for me. If anything, becoming informed about the many different ways images can be created has widened my appreciation for them all. When I find a new technique that I haven’t seen before, it’s like discovering art all over again. This was my reaction on first seeing the work of Dusty Anderson, whose creations in glass bridge the gap between drawing and carving. It is for situations like this that I’m glad that this column includes visual images so you don’t have to rely on my descriptions to appreciate Dusty’s pieces. I’ll be very much surprised if you don’t find them as amazing as I did.
Dusty Anderson is from Michigan by birth, from the South by upbringing, and a free spirit by inclination. “My Father’s job moved us to Alabama when I was young,” she says. “Growing up on the Chattahoochee River had to have helped shape my love for wildlife art.” She displayed a talent for drawing and illustration while in high school, and did “silly cartoon t-shirts for classmates”, even realizing that she could earn some money along the way. But this creativity was self-guided. “Growing up and going to small schools meant that I never had any art classes until I attended college.” Encouragement for Dusty, not only to draw but to think creatively and originally, came from her mother. “She provided blank paper and colors instead of coloring books,” she says. In her late teens, she went out on her own to, as she says to “find myself”. She supported herself with her art work and by her sign painting skills. In the 1980’s, Dusty’s mother encouraged her to go back to school to see if she could channel her talent into a career in advertising design. “I enjoyed the life drawing class,” she says, “but I found I was a ‘mood-drawer’ . I could meet the assignment deadlines but found that I didn’t do my best work under those restrictions.” She also encountered an experience common to many good artists, including several featured in this column. “I was told by a teacher that everything I knew about drawing and art was wrong - that I had to forget it and learn how to do it their way. That irked me, since I had been selling my art since I was fifteen and figured my way couldn’t be all wrong.” James-Ben Stockton, local director of Greeneville’s regional gallery,who appreciated Dusty’s work from the moment she walked through his front door, wasn’t surprised to hear this story. “I have had so many good artists tell of being victimized by bad art teachers that it seems like a sort of rite of passage for them. The only positive thing I can say about such experiences is that, for the artists who persevere inspite of such treatment, these experiences seem to motivate them to be true to their own originality.” Toward the end of her college soujourn, Dusty got the chance to paint the lettering on the town’s water tower. “I knew then that a degree in advertising design wasn’t going to be for me.”
The pathway into her current art form, which is engraving/carving on glass, came from a personal motivation. “I had an old van that I’d painted a dusty rose,” she says. “I wanted roses carved into the windows and found someone who could do the work but who quoted me more than I could afford. Being an artist myself, I decided to try my hand at it and have really enjoyed developing my technique into the fine lines and details that I’m able to achieve now.” The subject matter for Dusty’s pieces was influenced by those childhood memories of growing up on Alabama’s Chattahoochee River. Wolves, deer, turkeys, owls, bears, and racoons have come to life through her artistry. (As a heads-up to the families of outdoorsmen in the area, these pieces would make wonderful Father’s Day gifts!) Dusty’s skill has recently led her to branch out into portraiture in glass. A fine example is a marvelous image of Andrew Johnson, done in honor of the 17th president’s 200th birthday (http://www.james-ben.com/johnson_collection.htm). Dusty can work from photographs and notes that portraits are not necessarily limited to people. “Her motorcycle portraits are dynamite,” says gallery director Stockton. Dusty’s work is available by individual commission.
Like many others, Dusty Anderson has found this region to be a wonderful haven for a restless soul. “Over the years, I’ve moved around this fantastic country quite a bit, but when I found East Tennessee, I feel I’ve finally come home.” As with other creative transplants to the area, the move has been both satisfying and stimulating. “By meeting other artists and going to art shows, I’m constantly finding new forms of art I’d like to try,” she says. Considering the success of her current creativity, the possibilities for Dusty are worthy of eager anticipation. Her work is locally available and original commissions can be arranged through James-Ben: Studio and Gallery Art Center.
Neighbor Featured Artist #20: H.R. Lovell
Tennessee’s Artist-in-Residence Maintains a Presence in Greeneville
Isn’t it interesting how often treasures are found in unexpected places? Although great cities like Paris, New York, and Chicago are celebrated as the centers of fine art, with many opportunities for students seeking to launch their careers, quite often it is the countryside that produces artists of true genius. In such cases, it can seem that providence places creative doorways in the paths of folks unaware of their own potential. Once through the doorway, they seem to enter a place where serendipity rules, so that one connection leads to another, and creative advancement accelerates. A good example of this happenstance is found in the story of H.R. Lovell, Tennessee’s Artist-in-Residence, and a self-described “farmer who paints.” Twice now in the last ten years, the General Assembly has selected him to represent and exemplify our state at its best. With roots deep in agriculture, and from a farm that might be found in any one of Tennessee’s three regions, Lovell truly does embody the state in which he was born. As someone whose paintings were first shown in Greeneville more than five years ago, he is an artist/neighbor worth spending some quality time with.
H.R. Lovell was born and raised in Cheatham County, Tennessee, and still operates his family’s farm there near Ashland City. Although he considers his art career to have started when he was nearly thirty, the talent he has cultivated was there all along. “I could always draw,” he says. “I was drawing before I even started school but it was always in black and white.” Self-taught, Lovell got his first chance to experiment with color when asked to do a drawing of a friend’s childhood home. Not satisfied with the result in colored pencil, he re-did the piece using a set of dime store watercolors. “To be honest, I thought it looked pretty loud,” he says. But the friend was pleased and paid ten dollars for the work. “I was thinking all the time that I might have overcharged her,” Lovell recalls. He continued to experiment and seek advice about better materials. When he had several paintings done another friend noticed that one was of her grandfather’s homeplace. After purchasing it, the painting traveled with her to her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a real estate agent, one of her clients was legendary Navajo artist R.C. Gorman, to whom she showed Lovell’s painting. The result was an invitation to exhibit at Gorman’s Navajo Gallery. Having no familiarity with the art world, Lovell at first declined. “I had to confess that I’d never heard of R.C. Gorman, much less having any idea who he was,” says Lovell. “Then he called me and told me to watch the Today Show the next morning. Sure enough, he was featured and interviewed. I did some rethinking and told R.C. I’d come out to New Mexico, even though I only had six paintings.” After the show at the Navajo Gallery, Lovell’s production was back to square one, since all six paintings sold, even after Gorman tripled the prices. This would prove to be a recurring pattern in Lovell’s career. “I was getting ready to do a show in Nashville a few years later but before it opened, Mel Tillis asked to see my paintings and ended up buying all of them. We had to cancel the show.” His wide base of collectors makes Lovell’s originals a scarce commodity and has led to his production of high-quality giclees of most of his paintings.
One Saturday afternoon in the 1990’s, H.R. Lovell discovered James-Ben Gallery in Franklin, TN. “He was out for a drive and wandered up the stairs,” recalls James-Ben Stockton. “We’ve always focused on creating a relaxed, low-key experience for visitors and H.R. really connected to that. I found his paintings to be both superb and unassuming, reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth. And his personal story was a great example of how art can open doors into a new experience.” Stockton found out that Gorman had, in fact, nicknamed Lovell the “Andrew Wyeth of the South”. James-Ben Gallery offered Lovell his first one-man show. “While we were in process of putting it together, H.R. was first designated Tennessee Artist-in-Residence by the General Assembly,” says Stockton. “The opening reception became an occasion which our state legislators attended and where H.R. was presented with the official proclamation.”
Lovell works in both watercolor and egg tempera, a technique employed by the Renaissance masters from the days before oil paint came into common use. “He tends to choose subjects that evoke memories in the minds of viewers,” says Stockton. “Old homes, abandoned farm wagons, quilts – and remarkable portraits ranging from the marvelous faces of World War I veterans to young Mennonite girls – H.R. has a wonderful gift for touching hearts.” Most paintings begin with pencil sketches, connecting them with Lovell’s earliest efforts in drawing. A segment on PBS’s Tennessee Crossroads brought Lovell to the attention of a wide variety of art enthusiasts. With every passing year, that particular show is rated among the top five requested for repeat airings by viewers. Lovell’s work has been discovered and collected by such notables as Randy Travis, Burl Ives, Tanya Tucker, Pat Head-Summit, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, and Norman Mineta, U.S. Secretary of Transportation in the Bush administration. All are drawn to the work of a man who combines a good heart with astonishing talent. “One of his more recent paintings contains a wonderful personal story,” says Stockton. “H.R. was doing an iris painting as a tribute to the state flower. One of his biggest fans and collectors was terminally ill and kept asking to see it even if it wasn’t finished. H.R. took it to his hospital room one Tuesday and they spent the afternoon talking about it and reminiscing. It was their last visit.” “I was so glad that I was able to give him such enjoyment that day,” recalls Lovell. “In his honor, I renamed the piece ‘Tuesday’s Gift’.”
Since moving to Greeneville, James-Ben: Studio and Gallery has introduced H.R. Lovell’s work to a Northeast Tennessee audience. A one-man show and reception featuring Lovell originals was mounted in the gallery, in part through the generosity of the son whose late father inspired “Tuesday’s Gift.” Lovell’s paintings are a tribute to Tennessee, and a wonderful thread connecting the different regions of the state. His work is always available through James-Ben at Greeneville’s regional gallery. Meet H.R. Lovell through the gift of his artistry. He is truly a distinguished artist/neighbor.
Isn’t it interesting how often treasures are found in unexpected places? Although great cities like Paris, New York, and Chicago are celebrated as the centers of fine art, with many opportunities for students seeking to launch their careers, quite often it is the countryside that produces artists of true genius. In such cases, it can seem that providence places creative doorways in the paths of folks unaware of their own potential. Once through the doorway, they seem to enter a place where serendipity rules, so that one connection leads to another, and creative advancement accelerates. A good example of this happenstance is found in the story of H.R. Lovell, Tennessee’s Artist-in-Residence, and a self-described “farmer who paints.” Twice now in the last ten years, the General Assembly has selected him to represent and exemplify our state at its best. With roots deep in agriculture, and from a farm that might be found in any one of Tennessee’s three regions, Lovell truly does embody the state in which he was born. As someone whose paintings were first shown in Greeneville more than five years ago, he is an artist/neighbor worth spending some quality time with.
H.R. Lovell was born and raised in Cheatham County, Tennessee, and still operates his family’s farm there near Ashland City. Although he considers his art career to have started when he was nearly thirty, the talent he has cultivated was there all along. “I could always draw,” he says. “I was drawing before I even started school but it was always in black and white.” Self-taught, Lovell got his first chance to experiment with color when asked to do a drawing of a friend’s childhood home. Not satisfied with the result in colored pencil, he re-did the piece using a set of dime store watercolors. “To be honest, I thought it looked pretty loud,” he says. But the friend was pleased and paid ten dollars for the work. “I was thinking all the time that I might have overcharged her,” Lovell recalls. He continued to experiment and seek advice about better materials. When he had several paintings done another friend noticed that one was of her grandfather’s homeplace. After purchasing it, the painting traveled with her to her home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. As a real estate agent, one of her clients was legendary Navajo artist R.C. Gorman, to whom she showed Lovell’s painting. The result was an invitation to exhibit at Gorman’s Navajo Gallery. Having no familiarity with the art world, Lovell at first declined. “I had to confess that I’d never heard of R.C. Gorman, much less having any idea who he was,” says Lovell. “Then he called me and told me to watch the Today Show the next morning. Sure enough, he was featured and interviewed. I did some rethinking and told R.C. I’d come out to New Mexico, even though I only had six paintings.” After the show at the Navajo Gallery, Lovell’s production was back to square one, since all six paintings sold, even after Gorman tripled the prices. This would prove to be a recurring pattern in Lovell’s career. “I was getting ready to do a show in Nashville a few years later but before it opened, Mel Tillis asked to see my paintings and ended up buying all of them. We had to cancel the show.” His wide base of collectors makes Lovell’s originals a scarce commodity and has led to his production of high-quality giclees of most of his paintings.
One Saturday afternoon in the 1990’s, H.R. Lovell discovered James-Ben Gallery in Franklin, TN. “He was out for a drive and wandered up the stairs,” recalls James-Ben Stockton. “We’ve always focused on creating a relaxed, low-key experience for visitors and H.R. really connected to that. I found his paintings to be both superb and unassuming, reminiscent of Andrew Wyeth. And his personal story was a great example of how art can open doors into a new experience.” Stockton found out that Gorman had, in fact, nicknamed Lovell the “Andrew Wyeth of the South”. James-Ben Gallery offered Lovell his first one-man show. “While we were in process of putting it together, H.R. was first designated Tennessee Artist-in-Residence by the General Assembly,” says Stockton. “The opening reception became an occasion which our state legislators attended and where H.R. was presented with the official proclamation.”
Lovell works in both watercolor and egg tempera, a technique employed by the Renaissance masters from the days before oil paint came into common use. “He tends to choose subjects that evoke memories in the minds of viewers,” says Stockton. “Old homes, abandoned farm wagons, quilts – and remarkable portraits ranging from the marvelous faces of World War I veterans to young Mennonite girls – H.R. has a wonderful gift for touching hearts.” Most paintings begin with pencil sketches, connecting them with Lovell’s earliest efforts in drawing. A segment on PBS’s Tennessee Crossroads brought Lovell to the attention of a wide variety of art enthusiasts. With every passing year, that particular show is rated among the top five requested for repeat airings by viewers. Lovell’s work has been discovered and collected by such notables as Randy Travis, Burl Ives, Tanya Tucker, Pat Head-Summit, Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, and Norman Mineta, U.S. Secretary of Transportation in the Bush administration. All are drawn to the work of a man who combines a good heart with astonishing talent. “One of his more recent paintings contains a wonderful personal story,” says Stockton. “H.R. was doing an iris painting as a tribute to the state flower. One of his biggest fans and collectors was terminally ill and kept asking to see it even if it wasn’t finished. H.R. took it to his hospital room one Tuesday and they spent the afternoon talking about it and reminiscing. It was their last visit.” “I was so glad that I was able to give him such enjoyment that day,” recalls Lovell. “In his honor, I renamed the piece ‘Tuesday’s Gift’.”
Since moving to Greeneville, James-Ben: Studio and Gallery has introduced H.R. Lovell’s work to a Northeast Tennessee audience. A one-man show and reception featuring Lovell originals was mounted in the gallery, in part through the generosity of the son whose late father inspired “Tuesday’s Gift.” Lovell’s paintings are a tribute to Tennessee, and a wonderful thread connecting the different regions of the state. His work is always available through James-Ben at Greeneville’s regional gallery. Meet H.R. Lovell through the gift of his artistry. He is truly a distinguished artist/neighbor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
