SIGNAGE

I found this while I was cleaning up my studio for our upcoming Open Studio Night. I was doodling signs from Memphis: The theater on Lamar, Club Memphis on Park Ave., and The Boom Boom Room on Thomas St.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

I found this in a sketchbook. The summer before my junior year of high school, Memphis City Schools mandated uniforms would be worn by all students. The rules were pretty lenient -- black khaki or navy bottoms, and a white collared shirt (or a collared shirt in the school colors). But I went a little off the deep end wearing pleated skirts with knee socks, and I started wearing some of my dad's old neckties. Sometimes around my neck, and other times in my hair.

KEENER LIGHTING

I've liked this building for a while. Mostly for the windows, and that stained glass lampshade that appears several places on the building. I photographed it almost two years ago.

 Getting things sketched out.

Oops. I hope this still counts. It's not easy to watercolor in the rain.

Halfway finished. Still very red.

The sun came back, and it's setting. I've put a lot of yellow in.

Done.

A few notes on Keener Lighting. It's been family owned since 1952. (That's 61 years, y'all.) And you can get a Tennessee Vols stained glass lampshade here if you want. Here is the intersection as it looks today. (p.s. This is a great blog for information about Knoxville history.) Apparently since the older picture, The Knoxville Gas Company building has been torn down. When did the Keener Lighting Building come to be in existence?

After letting this sit in my drafts for a while, I found this better image of the Knoxville Gas Company here at the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection. It's a neat database to play around in. I happened to stumble upon photographs from a drag racing track here in Knoxville my dad didn't even know about. He too is a lover of old pictures (and ads) and can be found writing about "Run What You Brung" Southern Drag Racing and Memphis Barbecue here and here.

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH GRAVEYARD

 I didn't submit this one to the sale. Graveyards aren't terribly marketable, but it was fun to do. Looking back on that second picture, I like it more than the finished painting. I think I overworked things. Oh well.

L&N TRAIN STATION

Results after day 1 and 2, and the view from the back of my trunk.

THE STRIP: NORTH SIDE, PART I

Of the two sides of Cumberland Avenue, the North side has experienced less modernization and renovation. If you were to walk down that side of the street, you would notice that the buildings are built right up to the sidewalk. Parking and alleys are in the back. Newer buildings across the street are set back with room for extra parking, drive-thru windows, and landscaping in the front. In the case of some of these businesses, they only thing that has changed over the years are the tenants. Brick and mortar remains the same!

The Varsity Barber Show has been a Cumberland Avenue establishment for well over 40 years. Here is a picture shot through the window from the UT yearbooks.

It doesn't look like much has changed. According to an online review, Jack, the barber, is great and will even shave the back of your neck.

Next to the Varsity Barber Shop is this FedEx. It is very cozy with another building that butts up to the back of it. I've often wondered who would open a FedEx that blocks half an apartment building, then I realized that the FedEx wasn't always a retail space. Yearbook ads led me to this picture.

Traffic on The Strip -- a pain since the 1970s.

to be continued....

ALMOST FINISHED

THE STRIP: MY FAVORITE THINGS

I don't hate the whole Strip, I swear. Just most of it.  So I thought it would be nice to do a post about the places I actually go and like.

Ephesus, the business shown in the left of this watercolor is a great Middle Eastern restaurant. I'm not vegetarian, but most every time I go, I end up ordering the Ephesus platter off the vegetarian menu. It's a tasty, and fairly healthy sampler platter with pita, homemade hummus, tabbouleh salad, feta cheese rolls, and tzatziki (cucumber) sauce. I can also give a thumbs up to the Chicken Salad and the very potent Turkish coffee.

This particular FedEx has gotten me out of a printing bind several times for gallery shows. They are friendly, have great turn around on printing and mounting, and do quality work. The best time to go is on home game day during football season. I kid, kind of. Yes, The Strip is full of tailgaters and fans, but I speak from experience. I needed wall signage made on a particular Saturday, and because I was probably the only person who would venture to the FedEx on Cumberland instead of Neyland Stadium, I got my color printing and foamcore mounting done in just 10 minutes!

Eight months out of the year, I do not go to Half Barrel. However, in the summer when school is out and the students are gone, it can be a fun time. The only thing I really don't like about Half Barrel is that smoking is still allowed indoors. Most of the time, I like to sit on the back patio outside. The hot wings are actually spicy, and there is a decent happy hour deal on them. When I want hot wings, I want these hot wings, and there's a generous beer selection to go along with it. Trivia is Tuesday night here, and an acquaintance runs the game. They questions are well thought out, and aren't just about sports and movies. One of my favorite trivia answers from Half Barrel was "Mikhail  Baryshnikov."

Last but not least is Sunspot. I love this restaurant, and have never ordered anything that wasn't delicious. There are two halves -- sit down dining, and a casual bar. This restaurant serves meat and also vegetarian entrees (that aren't just side dishes). It's the place to go if you are looking for a gut-buster, filling meal, or a light salad, or even some casual small plates. Favorite dishes include the Granny Smith and steak salad, the Sunspot veggie burger, fish tacos, and the fried green tomato and ricotta small plate. (It's assembled like lasagna, with fried tomatoes instead of noodles.) You also get tomatillo salsa and warm chips to kick off every meal!

I'm working on a post filled with old images from some of the more elder buildings on The Strip. Stay tuned for stories of raucous hotels and haircut endorsements.

EVERY BUILDING ON THE STRIP: PART I

I got the idea to paint the Cumberland Avenue strip the week before Father's Day. I wrote it down in my notebook and filed it away as a morning, Summer project.

 I had planned to do one building every two days with my coffee. It would be fun and leisurely. Over the drive between Nashville and Knoxville (it's 190 miles of think time...) I made an ambitious decision. I knew we would be having a School of Art staff exhibition in the gallery I work at. Originally I planned to show 4 photographic diptychs. I had the realization that this gallery space would probably be the only place where I could pin up a large project like this and get quality images of the installation, so I got my butt in gear and started the project.

The concept amused me mostly. Who would be crazy enough to spend time painting a Taco Bell and a Wendy's? I also liked the idea that every image was dependent on the completed group to validate its existence. This project forced me to spend an exorbitant amount of time considering a place I usually try to forget. I wanted to make something that would be curious to folks -- maybe even beautiful --  and make them stop and consider The Strip. In discussing the project with people, I've mostly heard stories. People ended up telling me their favorite of the chain restaurants. I heard old college tales of bars long since gone, and one recounting of a student passing out in the Krystal's drive thru.

To begin the project, I photographed all of the buildings at the same time -- walking up one side of the street while photographing the opposite side. I probably looked insane.  In total, there were three gas stations, two banks, and any number of bars and chain restaurants. The Strip is a place to refuel -- either your car or your belly. It has been the source of many complaints over the years. Too ugly. Too much traffic. Too commercial. Too visible from the interstate.

In the spirit of research, I ended up reading a few articles from the Knoxville News Sentinel, one from a few years ago that has a picture of The Strip in full force, and one written since I've lived here addressing a redesign of the McDonald's and an effort to make Cumberland Avenue more pedestrian friendly.

I began to wonder what The Strip was like in the past. Has it always been a commercial eyesore? In these instances, I'm glad my dad spent most of his life with a camera glued to his face. He attended UT in the early 70s and was able to provide me with a few photographs he took.

Taken from the roof of Clement Hall.

This Strip looked so different, I had no idea what the view was at at first. (Even though I know where the dorm is.) If you are familiar with Knoxville, The right hand corner intersection is showing what is now Chipotle, Ft. Sanders Yacht Club, and the Goodwill. That shield in the mid-left of the image is the Krystal's, recently closed. In the very back left of the photograph is a stack from an old cement factory, now gone.

Middle of the street. Taken from slightly east of the intersection of Cumberland and 17th.

 I also had him look through his yearbooks for any Student Life sections that might feature parts of the strip. Then I discovered that UT has also scanned every yearbook from the early 1910s through 2012. I CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH THIS EXCITES ME. I've been going through those and screen capping some interesting images. The next few blog posts will highlight certain paintings paired with yearbook images. To see installation images and individual images of the complete series, visit my Flickr page.

Stay tuned, y'all.

WHET YOUR APPETITES, SOMETHING'S COMING

I'm in the middle of a big, self-imposed project to end on July 6th. Stay tuned for further details. Until then, here's a little bit of Krystal to hold you over.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Yesterday, I met up with my parents for a little Father's Day weekend hangout. I made this watercolor before I knew that my mom was plotting something and had planned to post it here for Sunday. I still am, but this time I got to deliver the painting too.

It doesn't take much to make my dad happy. One of the things he really enjoys is a good, simple meal that hasn't been fussed with. (He's never been much for "arranged" food.) Bonus points for a restaurant that always knows exactly when it's time for a coffee refill. Dino's is exactly that. My Dad's relationship with Dino's is older than his marriage. I believe he ate there the morning of the wedding. He's been going so long that he doesn't even have to order anymore. The food just appears. And he likes it that way. So, on this special Sunday, I hope you had a fabulous breakfast of scrambled eggs, grits, biscuits, and maybe some of Mom's bacon. And plenty of coffee.

SOUL FOOD, MUSIC, HOT WINGS

I made this little watercolor over a stretch of two mornings while drinking coffee. One thing I like about the summer is the earlier sunrise time. I've discovered that whether or not the sun is up has a huge influence on my schedule. Right now, it's easy to motivate myself to get up early so I can paint and listen to the radio before work, but in the middle of winter? Forget it. In the summer I can go until 8:30 without eating dinner because the sun is still up, but in December, I want to eat at 4:30.

Anyway. This is Wild Bill's. A very small (but long) bar on the fringes of Midtown Memphis. It does several things well. Hamburgers, live music, and dancing. I used to go occasionally with a pack of friends during holiday breaks from college. The last time I was there, the cover was $10. Seemingly steep, but completely worth it. The band may be the same every week, but at least I knew they'd be good.

I've also been plugging away on some new ideas, works in progress, and other things. They'll appear here soon. I lost a roll of film to a technical snafu. The film advance wasn't catching the second time I loaded it, so the roll I was working on in New York will never be. I didn't feel the lack of tension while photographing until it was too late. I'm temped to develop the film, but I know what's there. 24 pictures of Kudzu, and one frame with the other 24 pictures that were supposed to expose over the entire roll. Oh well. I'll try again.

PLEIN AIR

A collage I made earlier this year. I only wish I looked that stylish painting outside.

In the beginnings of summer, the Knoxville Museum of Art hosts its annual fundraiser. For the past several years its been a sale of plein air paintings painted the day of and the day before the show by area artists. Last year was the first time I participated in Artists on Location.  I'd never attempted plein air painting before, but one of my co-workers is the chair he and talked me into it. 

 I was enthusiastic, and went at it with such gusto. I made three paintings. One even sold! However, I  came away with a few battle scars. 

The only patch of sunburn. I earned my plein air wings.

Most of the time, painting is a full-body contact sport for me. At the end of the day, I was completely covered in sticky, black oil bar and white paint. I showered with my dish soap for a few days in an attempt to cut through the linseed grease and grime. I also still have white fingerprints all over my trunk and car doors. Here are some of my pieces from last year.

Gay Street Trains

Under the Gay Street Bridge.

This year, I took the easy route, and decided oil painting outdoors just isn't for me. I have been watercoloring more than I have in the past, and decided to give that a go. I made these paintings last year as gifts for people, and the style suits making quick paintings. (Especially when I don't want to be wearing half the paint in the end.

A sweet little Memphis bungalow.

CK's, A Memphis institution

My rig for this year was a drawing board, a camping chair, a glass jar with brushes, and a nalgene with all the water I would need.

On Sunday I painted the Pease Furniture Store in the Vestal neighborhood of South Knoxville. Here's my view from across the street. I've always loved the lettering of the sign, and the time-warpy feeling I get whenever I drive by.

And here's the finished piece.

I took advantage of the long weekend and was able to make a second painting. This is the Cal Johnson Building in Downtown Knoxville. It's next to a parking garage I use frequently, and I've always admired its beautiful (broken) windows. It was just added to Knox Heritage's Fragile Fifteen list.

Here's hoping it sees some better days soon. 

happy mother's day

Last week I went to see Kiss Me Kate. I saw a dress rehearsal production of it a couple of years ago, but this was the full on real deal, and it was really good. I told my mom I was going, and she sounded more than a bit envious. She had an afternoon of paperwork ahead of her, while I was off to watch three hours of musical theater. You see, my mom loves musicals. She was a teenager in the 1960s and only has one Beatles album, BUT she owns almost every Broadway musical album from 1950 - 1970. When I was 5, I probably knew all of the words to every song in Showboat. I've also never seen the Disney animated version of Peter Pan. Just the recorded BBC version with Mary Martin. The musical apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

So Mom, I made this silly watercolor doodle for you. Happy Mother's Day.

A silly illustration of a couplet, neatly summarizing Hamlet.

(p.s. Mom, I think your brain is fry-frazzled. You started talking about this lyric when I brought up Kiss Me Kate. This is not a line from "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," but instead it's  from "That's Entertainment." Anyway. Do try to relax and watch a silly movie.)

demonstrating artists

Last week my friend and I were demonstrating artists an an area elementary school for their Fine Arts Night. After work we both hauled in way too many art supplies and examples of our work to set up a demonstration station. 

Jennifer's photographs and my cameras and painting-doodles.

Print blocks, silkscreen screens, and watercolors.

Jennifer is a talented printmaker and her work can be seen here. We both brought watercolors and decided to be a bit traditional and silly. After we finished setting up the tables, we drew simultaneous blind contour portraits of each other. Then we spent the rest of the evening working on finishing the paintings. We got an array of reactions from parents and students -- some laughing at our silly work and  some wondering exactly what we were doing. Here's Jennifer, by me. I gave her a mystical left eyeball and an orange background... because she loves UT football.

Here's Jennifer's painting of me. We're not quite sure what happened to my glasses and my eyes. Don't you love my cosmic yearbook portrait background?

the litmus test

I have a test for any new media I decide to start using on a regular basis. I make an image of mountains. This isn't something I deliberately set out to do. It just crept up on me one day. I'll explain.

Eight years ago, I moved from Memphis to the mountains -- the Cumberland Plateau to be exact. I attended Sewanee (the University of the South), and the campus sits on a 10,000 acre plot of forested land in southern Tennessee. Sewanee is secluded and didn't even have reliable cell phone reception when I was there. The remoteness bothers some people. I fell in love. Until I went to Sewanee, the Milky Way was something I just read about in books. I loved trail running through the woods, hiking, sitting on the edge of the Plateau and watching the sun rise or set, and doing my reading for class on a large sandstone rock that overlooked the forest and was older than the dinosaurs. For the first time, I could look out a window and have a "view." I took classes in forestry and geology. I could identify all the rock layers making up the plateau and most of the trees that grew on top of it.

I think mountains are mind blowing and very humbling. I never get tired of looking at them.

A view of Morgan's Steep at Sewanee

Another view of Morgan's Steep.  This image is creeping away from reality, but I had a specific place in mind when I made it.

After college, I moved north to another remote town near the mountains. (Noticing a trend here?) This time I lived along the Susquehanna River in the upper ridges of the Appalachians. I had cell phone reception, but there were hitching posts at my stores to tie up a horse and buggy. Central Pennsylvania's remoteness was not entirely physical. There were pockets my new place that were remote from modernity. Welcome to Amish country. The mountains in the Susquehanna Valley looked familiar -- like 

Tennessee. They were different though and looked completely new when the snow came.

I was obsessed with the way leafless trees looked in the winter -- A sketch from Pennsylvania

When I came back to Tennessee, I settled within spitting distance of the Smokies. I live 15 minutes from the highest point in Knox County, and on a clear day when I drive down Central Avenue, there's a gay bar on my right, a bakery on my left, and miles of purply- blue mountains in the distance.

This watercolor was inspired by the very beginnings of a 5am winter sunrise in Knoxville.

This similar painting came later. Hand incised contour lines describe the rise and fall of the mountain peaks.

At some point in 8 years, the mountains have crawled into my psyche. I have painted and drawn them along the way, but at some point they stopped being specific mountains and just became an image of little bits and pieces of all the mountains, seasons, and times of day I've seen. Mountains have turned into a very sophisticated doodle. The nature of the medium dictates what season or weather seems to appear in the image. I do all of them from my imagination now, and I want each image to be as interesting as the real thing. When I can reach that equilibrium, I feel like I have a decent mastery of my new medium or idea I want to try out.

My first attempt at encaustic painting

More encaustic with dyed cheesecloth for texture.

Cheesecloth on wood. I pulled on the warp and weft strings of the loose weave to create those ridges

I got new Pitt pens a while back and took them for a walk...