NashvilleArts.com | February 2O11 | 1
spotlight
As the Wood Turns After bouncing around between California, Oregon, and the Iowa farm where he was raised, David Knudtson landed in Nashville in 1986. He’s been here ever since making his living as a carpenter, cabinetmaker, furniture maker, and all-around handyman. He also supported himself as an actor and songwriter. A few years ago Knudtson started creating his “wood assemblages” to great success. His pieces created from laminated wood have gained national attention for Knudtson, and yet he finds it difficult to call himself an “artist.” “I wasn’t looking to be an artist. It happened upon me while I was chasing other notions. My pieces are my teachers when I have the courage to accept their tutelage. When I let myself see it, they show me who I am and who I might dare to be.” Knudtson’s stunning creations can be found at www.crystalwoodstudio.com.
Photo: rob Stack
York & Friends Fine Art Gallery Now Open. Twenty years ago, Nashville artist Ron York opened Local Color Gallery and through the years has continued to work with many of the same artists and friends with whom he began his business. Now, York returns to the scene as a gallery owner with more artist power than ever. His new gallery, York & Friends, opened in January in the heart of Belle Meade. above : below :
Ribbon II
Woman In Restaurant
“For the past several years, I’ve been showing art in other venues to great success. When this building became open, I felt it was a great opportunity.” The gallery showcases twenty artists that represent a variety of styles and prices for a broad range of collectors. In addition to paintings, they carry Jan Bell’s fused glass, Ben Caldwell’s copper serving pieces, Tom Turnbull’s pottery, and Bethany Laurel’s jewelry. York & Friends also represents Jennifer Padgett, Jade Reynolds, Marilyn Wendling, Gay Petach, Lassie McDonald Crowder, and Danny Phifer. Being a gallery owner is a natural fit for York, whose enthusiasm and love for promoting art only grows over time. “In my own home I have so much of the work of the artists that I’ve represented over the years, it’s like living with a collection of friends.” York & Friends Fine Art is located in Belle Meade at 107 Harding Place. Gallery hours are Tuesday–Friday 10 to 5 and Saturday 10 to 3. 615-352-3316. www.yorkandfriends.com
14 | February 2O11 | NashvilleArts.com
spotlight
David Wasserman’s Incredible Tin Can Art (1917–1999). This incredible work of art, done solely in tin cans on plywood, was created by the late master artist and graphic designer David Wasserman. Wasserman, who was born in New York in 1917 to Russian-Jewish immigrants, lived out his final years here in Nashville with his wife, Betty, to be near his son and family. He spent his entire life creating art and was incredibly prolific. By day, he was the founder and partner of a major graphic design studio in New York, turning out designs for major advertising agencies and corporations such as Pepsi Cola, Ford, and Proctor & Gamble. But by night he created tin can art, designing, hammering, precisely cutting the colorful pieces and placing them delicately on large boards. It was a process unique to Wasserman, who left painting to pursue a medium of expression that was all his own. Over the course of his life the artist produced thirty-five pieces of his tin can works of art and never once desired to show his work to the public. It comes as a great surprise that Wasserman never exhibited his work in a gallery or a museum. He was an artist who didn’t seek a crowd yet created with great purpose. His son, Steven, recounts that his father gained great joy and satisfaction from viewing his works hung in every room and hallway in his own home.
EuropEan
antiquEs & art GallEry Featuring Original Works of Local Artists 810 Walker street
Columbia, tn 38401
(931) 388-4676 lolblolly2007@yahoo.com
Mon-Sat 10am-3pm Sun By Appt. Sandy Henry “Having Lunch With The Cousins” 24x48 Acrylic
Wasserman’s subject matters cover a wide range of focus—patterns, still lifes, and abstracts make up his prolific repertoire. His first experiment in tin, Super Nova, already shows great mastery, skill, and even discipline over his medium. His modern realism piece, Spaghetti Dinner, is a fabulous ode to the important role perspective can play in composition. No doubt, Wasserman’s graphic eye for design was always hard at work, but also penetrating his pieces is the quiet story of the process, how these extravagant works came into being. Made from ordinary elements in our culture, Wasserman’s legacy is a thing to celebrate. Here is an artist who has taken what was once recycled and, through his meticulous workmanship, remains in this world as magnificent artworks emanating incredible beauty. David Wasserman died October 12, 1999. He never got to attend the first exhibit of his work, which was held the following December at the Tennessee State Museum. His son, Steven, noted that his father would have been very pleased to see all the people who found great joy in his work. Steven now continues to celebrate his father’s incredible tin can art by sharing its beauty with audiences both online and in exhibitions. To learn more about the artist and view more of David Wasserman’s masterful tin can art, visit www.tincanman.net.
18 | February 2O11 | NashvilleArts.com
in the gallery
Bennett Galleries Presents
Women’s Work
As recently as the mid twentieth century, women with a talent for art were thought of as dilettantes; the idea of women selling their artwork to make a living was simply out of the question. Thankfully, times have changed. This month Bennett Galleries celebrates female artists and women’s perspective in art by devoting their entire gallery to a women-only exhibition. Women’s Work highlights eight to ten new paintings by each of these local and regionally based artists: Meredith Keith, Carylon Killebrew, Cathy Lancaster, Dorsey McHugh, Shannon Nyimicz, Charlotte Terrell, and Kris Prunitsch. The director of this collaborative exhibition is Emily Cothran. She shares with us a little background on her unique concept. “Women’s Work is an exhibition of art created by women from a woman’s perspective. Men and women use the same techniques, materials, tools, and sometimes the same inspiration to create a piece of art, but a woman’s perspective is always different. Women are now more free to do work like this. We wanted to create a show that was specific to women to celebrate that sentiment.” This exhibition is an exciting discovery into a diverse range of women’s perspectives and artistic expressions. Carylon Killebrew says, “At first I was concerned because I was thinking am I supposed to be standing in front of the ironing board or the sink? Then after I thought about it I realized it meant anything I can put my hands to do creatively and constructively in society. This is a good thing.” Many of Killebrew’s subjects come from the artist’s farm. From cows to canoes painted in her unique style, her subjects represent ideas and ideals familiar in her own lifestyle.
top :
Sweet Rest, Charlotte Terrell, Mixed media on board, 48” x 36”
above :
Nashville artist Dorsey McHugh shares, “This is a fun and exciting show. When I approach a painting, I’m thinking about the parallel between the emotion inside that stimulates me, and also capturing a material perspective on light to communicate my expression. Color is a representation of emotion to me.” Kris Prunitsch, also a Nashville artist, states, “These are some of the best women painters in the Southeast; to be included is an honor. People often ask me where my ideas come from. I travel all over the world, so the landscapes of London, England, or India are places that provide me a great deal of material. I paint from my own mind, incorporating texture and color, and make a pleasing composition that feels right to me. I often recall the rules from my art education, but I give myself the freedom to break free from those rules.” Prunitsch often incorporates organic materials like coffee and tea stains in her pieces.
Still Life with Sunflowers and Pomegranate by Shannon Nyimicz,
Oil on canvas, 40" x 40"
Shannon Nyimicz says, “I love to capture reality with a twist of whimsy. I work from imagination to create playful paintings that are primarily representational but with an element of abstraction. Both my still life and figurative works reflect memories of my childhood or the special moments of raising daughters, and, to this end, they have a meditative, almost autobiographical quality. I approach the canvas using large brushstrokes to create energy and movement. The colors I choose usually reflect a pleasurable experience that lingers in my mind—perhaps a piece of fabric, a flower, or even a place.” All seven artists will be present at the opening reception on Friday, February 18, 2011 from 6–9 p.m. Women’s Work will be on exhibit through mid March. Bennett Galleries is located at 2104 Crestmoor Road, Nashville, TN 37215. www.bennettgalleries.com.
24 | February 2O11 | NashvilleArts.com
top :Cool above :
top right : below :
Mistress by Dorsey McHugh, Mixed media on board, 12" x 12"
Mango by Carylon Killebrew, Oil on canvas, 60" x 48" The Look by Meredith Keith, Acrylic on canvas, 48" x 36"
Split Decision by Kris Prunitsch, Mixed media on board, 33" x 21"
bottom right :
Poppolagio by Cathy Lancaster, Mixed media on canvas, 24" x 30"
NashvilleArts.com | February 2O11 | 25
Shen Yun
Performing Arts
“During last year’s shows,” says dancer Regina Dong, “when the music would quiet down you could actually hear people sniffling, people in tears.” They were moved by the performances. “That’s unusual in the performing arts these days.”
Bringing Timeless Culture to Life by M. Manyu A Shen Yun performance is an entrée into a timeless past.
An unprecedented gathering of world-class dancers, choreographers, vocalists, and musicians with a singular purpose: to rekindle the best of China’s classical dance heritage and to share it with a broader audience.
“We want to provide our audiences with an experience of consummate beauty and goodness,” says Timothy Wu, one of Shen Yun’s principal dancers. “We want to bring out what is timeless and most precious from our culture.” Many of the dances provide us with a portal to a rich panoply of traditional Chinese values, ideals, and hopes. Audiences can step into the last days of China’s imperial past, the Qing Dynasty, with the elegant ladies of the Manchurian court; save the country with General Yue Fei, the paragon of courage; or simply pause to savor spring’s fresh forsythia blossoms.
Indeed, what might be called “the Shen Yun difference” is a larger belief that the performing arts can not only harness the cultural depth of the classical arts, finding in them a wellspring of meaning, but can present them in a manner relevant to our modern, high-tech expectations. One facet of this is the highly original cinematic backdrops, digitally designed specifically for Shen Yun’s shows and meant to mine fully the artistic potential of emerging theater technology. The backdrops range from placid pastoral scenes to stunningly animated Buddhist caves of Western China. The result is a visual experience that is a feast for the eyes. The shows also have meant summoning new degrees of creative ferment on the costume front. A robust costume design team labors painstakingly for months each year to create the feast of colors, both vibrant and subtle, that defines Shen Yun’s adornment. All are original conceptions meant to match perfectly the tone and expression of each piece. At any given show you can expect everything from majestic imperial robes to spritely folk garb.
26 | February 2O11 | NashvilleArts.com
“There’s hardly anyone who doesn’t say, ‘Wow—that was truly beautiful’ after the show,” says Ying Chen, a conductor with the company. “We understand beauty to be both inner and outer. You have to have both, and that’s something unique about our arts. People can sense it.”
Photos: Shen Yun Performing Arts, Copyright 2010
Another innovation is the creation of the world’s only orchestra whose permanent members consist of players of both Chinese and Western instruments. Shen Yun’s orchestra, much like its dance, explores new artistic horizons in its fusion of Chinese and European musical traditions. The two-stringed erhu complements the oboe for effects at times merry, haunting, and playful.
“The orchestra means that the ear is treated to the same kind of feast as the eye,” says Emily Kutolowski, a principal oboist. Just what form exactly that feast takes is always something of a surprise, however. “Each year we have something new in store, and we like to keep it a surprise right up until opening night,” says Ms. Chen. “We enjoy the suspense that builds. It’s part of the sense of discovery the show creates.”
We understand beauty to be both inner and outer. You have to have both, and that’s something unique about our arts. People can sense it.
While Shen Yun’s shows are an enlightening window into China’s past, they also break ground by exploring some of the important contemporary issues that face China, if not the world more broadly, today. Past years have given artistic treatment to themes of justice, ethnic identity, and spiritual belief under communist rule. “It’s the best of so many things—past and present, real and ideal, light and heavy, East and West,” adds Kutolowski. “It’s hard not to be moved and inspired by the shows. We really see this as a new tradition. It speaks to people across cultures and continents.” Shen Yun Performing Arts has visited North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The company will have two evening shows at the Andrew Jackson Hall (TPAC) on February 18–19, 2011. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org or TNShows.com.
NashvilleArts.com | February 2O11 | 27 NashvilleArts.com | February 2O11 | 27
32 | February 2O11 | NashvilleArts.com
left :
How Did We Get Here, Watercolor and collage on paper, 50” x 42”
Face to Face with Andrew Saftel by MiChelle Jones
Andrew
Saftel’s
words
are
Last fall, Saftel had two concurrent shows in Nashville, one of new work at Cumberland Gallery, where he exhibited alongside Red Grooms, and another at the University School as the featured Artclectic artist. The latter was a retrospective that included sculpture, small shadowbox-like collages, and larger works on paper and wood.
still
hanging in the air as the drum roll begins. Standing in front of How Did We Get Here, a 2005 watercolor collage inspired by the evolution vs. intelligent-design debate, Saftel mentions that this is as outwardly political as his work gets. At that moment, the sound of a drum roll fills the air and a group of young children begins to sing The Star-Spangled Banner. “This is perfect,” Saftel says as an aside, while continuing to excavate verbally the layers of imagery in his painting.
How Did We Get Here, for example, incorporates a progression of years stenciled onto the lower left side of the piece; drawings of butterflies, seeds, and plants scattered throughout; and an illustration of a dinosaur on a page ripped from a book. This one collage encompasses several recurring themes found in Saftel’s work: references to passing time, environmental and political issues, and questions about how we came to be where we are.
Photo: Anthony Scarlati
Some of Saftel’s works are more straightforward than others, at least on the surface. These include chunky wooden sculptures and lighter whimsical ones in which things are balanced, piled, or stacked. His surrealist bent is particularly evident, however, in his complex, large-scale collages done on paper or wood panel. In these image-filled pieces, he attempts to visualize the mix of everything read, watched, or otherwise experienced swirling around in a person’s mind.
“I love his work, because whether you’re 5 or almost 50 there’s a story there. Sometimes you find elements where you can insert your own story into what’s going on,” says Lee Ann Merrick, USN’s arts program coordinator. “You’re not finished with a piece; you can’t fully ever digest it. It doesn’t get boring.”
NashvilleArts.com | February 2O11 | 33
NashvilleArts.com | February 2O11 | 37
Waiting on a Friend, Oil on canvas
Sometimes a painting creates itself, and sometimes you call it a truce. If you change any little thing, you change everything.
Jeff Jamison In Reflection by Deborah Walden quiet, tortured artist struggling to create. Jamison is not that man. Full of gusto, always ready to laugh, he is above all a communicator. For him, each painting is a potential connection to a like mind. “It’s like a phone that is ringing out there in the world, and someone picks it up. Wow!” Unlike so many artists of his generation that cut their teeth on psychedelic music and Abstract Expressionism, Jamison found art in unexpected places. “Sports and James Bond movies got me into art. When I wasn’t playing sports, I was in my room listening to sports and drawing sports.” A promising high school athlete, Jamison planned to play football in college. A knee injury during a baseball game cost him that dream. “I eventually got over not playing football . . . I got over it about last year.” Jamison began college at MTSU but dropped out to sell suntan oil on Miami Beach. In Florida, he returned to school where he honed his skills as a painter. For many years, Jamison worked as a free-lance illustrator. Ever a pupil of naturalism, he could not find a place for his work in a Miami fine arts scene that favored abstract painting. The advent of digital media affected Jamison’s career in the same way that it changed the lives of many an illustrator. Jobs dried up. This period, he claims, happily coincided with “a Renaissance of representational painting” in the United States. The skill for accuracy and detail that Jamison had developed through his career as an illustrator offered him entry to a new world as a painter. He claims, “I even painted Western art for a while because there was more representational art out West.”
Photo: Anthony Scarlati
There exists in most people’s minds that unfortunate stereotype of the
Jamison quickly tired, though, of painting cowboys and horses. They were not really a part of his experience. He began a quest that he continues to this day to find his own voice and purpose as an artist. “I think it was turning fifty or something. I began to ask, ‘What is it that I want to say? What is it that I want to be about?’” Jamison’s curiosity did not end with inquiries about his work—he began to explore the universal elements of art and to consider how his work on a canvas might resonate in the minds of people he had never met. “Is there a universal? Is there a song we’re all humming that we don’t know? What draws a person to a painting to connect with it so strongly?”
NashvilleArts.com | February 2O11 | 53
What I am doing with these paintings is like creating characters on a stage. The perspective is pulled back, giving more of a panoramic view. I use the figures as players in a scene. above : right :
Lawyers, Lovers & Clergymen, Oil on canvas
Studio Morning, Oil on canvas
All of those years in illustration gave Jamison a thorough vocabulary of forms and figures. He began to use this “toolbox,” as he calls it, to establish a kind of art that speaks directly to his audience. “What I am doing with these paintings is like creating characters on a stage. The perspective is pulled back, giving more of a panoramic view. I use the figures as players in a scene.” This approach, he believes, draws viewers into the quiet drama of his works. It allows them to become part of the world of the painting in the same way that one is transported while watching a film. Creating these spatial illusions comes easily for Jamison. “I studied pre-engineering and architectural drawing. I’m terrible with math, but I have a fascination with numbers and spatial geometry.” These elements, he finds, attract the eye to the focal points of the canvas. “Humans,” he says, “are always drawn to line and color.” As Jamison has evolved as a painter, his works have taken on greater elements of abstraction. Even in his earliest meditations, geometric patterns of brushstrokes and fuzzy, incomplete areas of paint abound. A careful selection of basic shapes or a seemingly random, but perfectly placed, scumble of bright paint here and there imparts an element of liveliness and movement to his work. Jamison achieves this effect through a cocktail of instinct and intention. “Sometimes a painting creates itself, and sometimes you call it a truce. If you change any little thing in a painting, you change everything in that painting. What I have found so enjoyable is that I no longer try to control everything that happens from beginning to end. I take myself out of the whole process. I basically create problems and then correct them.”
54 | February 2O11 | NashvilleArts.com
right :
In the Service of the Queen, Oil on canvas below :
bottom right :
Early Evening Stroll, Oil on canvas
Summers Hammock, Oil on canvas
In approaching art, Jamison credits his training as an athlete with the discipline that has defined his career. “It’s the training. Football is a hard game. Art is the hardest thing I’ve ever done after football. I’m glad I have the discipline from athletics because every painting is game day.” As he composes a painting, applying various shapes and colors, Jamison depends on that discipline to achieve balance. “There’s a dual existence in your mind. On one hand, it’s the teacher. On the other hand, it’s the student. You have to police yourself. I don’t know where this is coming from—I’m just there being the referee. It’s like herding squirrels.” Regulating his instincts and allowing himself to be expressive free Jamison to paint scenes that are enigmatic. They are both universal and specific. We have all walked down one of Jamison’s sidewalks, although most of them do not represent a particular location. It is Jamison’s inquiring attitude and tireless search for connection that generates these intersections between the mind of the artist and the eye of the beholder. That whole process embodies Jamison’s supreme joy as a painter. He reveals, “I love being an artist, but I probably just love moving paint around on a canvas and thinking.” Jeff Jamison is represented by Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art in Charleston, South Carolina. www.jeffjamisonstudio.com
NashvilleArts.com | February 2O11 | 55
photography
Peter Nash Dog Day Afternoons by Robbie Moore
of some influence, try ordering somebody else’s dog around.” So how does Peter Nash do it? Well, he treats all his subjects as celebrities. He says, “I approach a dog, in a sense, no different than if it was Dolly Parton.” He shoots in color, he exclaims enthusiastically, “because they are in fur coats!” Beautiful browns and creams and oranges and blacks shot in blocks of shapes transferred to canvas make for stunning portraits. What makes his work different is that he identifies himself as a portrait artist as opposed to a photographer and likes his portraits to look like art on canvas, by using light in the same way classic artists did. And all the while he is charming your dog into posing like a professional. The
result is a very special photographic and classic dog portraiture. I had to see for myself how he weaves his magic spell over his canine subjects. Zeeka and Ruby, the most wonderful whippets, met us at the door of the home in Brentwood the dogs share with Peter and Laura and their two teenage children. The playful energy of both dogs and owner were quite charming. Peter and these furry friends led us back to a bright workspace filled with some of his canvas canines. Ruby naturally posed on “her” couch just as if she were ready for her close-up. She had obviously done this before. A graduate of the Pasadena Art and Design Center in California, Nash
Photo: Meghan Aileen Schirmer
Will Rogers once said, “If you get to thinking you’re a person
58 | February 2O11 | NashvilleArts.com
His list of clients includes most if not all of country music’s royalty, from Dolly to Willie, from Johnny to Loretta, both Georges, and Chet too. began his photography career doing editorials, a fun, fast-paced way to “get out the clanks” and hone his skill behind the camera. His natural love for music led him at the age of 21 to Atlantic Records in Miami where he worked in promotions, a very interesting job in the high times of the record industry. But his skill in photography and a keen ear for country music, acquired through many hours of listening to his brother’s Hank Williams records, led him on the road to Nashville in 1983. His list of clients includes most if not all of country music’s royalty, from Dolly to Willie, from Johnny to Loretta, both Georges, and Chet too. No last names required. During those times there was no art direction position, so Peter learned to do it all. He became a favorite of many artists, a friend of Lyle Lovett, and was even the one to photograph the slightly surprising wedding of Lovett to Julia Roberts. In the ’90s there was a shift in fashion and country music. Peter, who at one time was only reluctantly hired because he was “too L.A.,” was now watching a migration of his work to the photographers and stylists of the coasts. The music was changing, but then so was Peter’s interest in it. As his passion for the genre shifted, he began to think about what his next adventure might be.
In 2000, his wife Laura gave him a beautiful gift for his birthday—a painting created in 1857 of a very noble greyhound lit in a way that remarkably resembled flash photography. Peter would look at the interesting painting quite often and say to himself, “I can do that.” Ironically, on the day he received a call from a woman inquiring if he did pet photography, he said, “No.” He hung up the phone, then thought to himself, “What am I doing? I love dogs!” He had no way of getting back to her, but, as fate would have it, she was persistent and called him back a month later. He took the job but charged her nothing. As he shows us the portraits, he sadly tells us that quite a few of his subjects have passed on already. Because we know that a dog’s lifespan is shorter than ours, “A dog relationship is temporary . . . [but] it’s the closest thing to nature we have as city dwellers.” Peter feels honored to have been able to capture their spirits in unique portraits that will be family heirlooms. What I’ve found during this delightful afternoon with Peter Nash, and as I think Ruby and Zeeka would tell you too if they could, is that there is no one better for the job of making your dog feel and look like a celebrity. Peter Nash’s dog portraits are represented by Gallery202 in Franklin, Tennessee. www.peternashdogs.com
60 | February 2O11 | NashvilleArts.com
book review
Designs on Film A Century of Hollywood Art Direction by Cathy Whitlock
Along with sweet tea, seems to me Nashville has an unquenchable thirst for estate sales, a designer “show house,” or, best of all, that subdivision smorgasbord known as a “parade” of homes. We’ll park in the next county, scale a ninety-degree stone drive in heels, or eagerly squeeze shoulder-to-shoulder on a shuttle bus, to see how the other half drapes, deconstructs, and otherwise decorates, as prevailing taste turns. Now, thanks to a Nashville native, you can take the ultimate style romp, without the bus, the bickering, or the bunions. Put the new book Designs on Film atop your (no doubt outdated) coffee table, and let the inspiration spill.
top right : above :
Original drawing from Cleopatra, 1963
Original drawing from The King and I, 1956
With the blessing and backing of the venerable Art Directors Guild, Nashville interior designer and filmophile Cathy Whitlock casts an ambitiously wide net across a century of cinema . . . and plucks visual pearls, those films that have pulled audiences into total belief by virtue of their unrivaled beauty, opulence, and authenticity. It’s four hundred pages, an entertaining encyclopedia full of rare photos, sketches, and the sort of classic movie minutiae that will earn you big points at a cocktail party. Designs on Film chronicles the contributions of folks whose names we all should know but have probably never heard. Picture Fred and Ginger scampering through those wedding-cake-white interiors . . . you can thank a guy named Van Nest Polglase. An oil painter named Anton Grot helped put true darkness into film noir. And
a one-time sketch artist, Perry Ferguson, used his own ingenuity and bolts of black velvet to stretch the visual field and meager budget of Citizen Kane. The icy love shack in Dr. Zhivago? Believe it or not, it was filmed in a sweltering Spanish summer (you’ll never guess what the ice really was). And if you think the movies are always make believe, adjust that picture. Art directors and production designers even made sure the reporters’ desks in All the President’s Men were covered with real notes, written by real crusaders at The Washington Post. Author Cathy Whitlock left Nashville for New York City “the minute” she got out of UT. She worked in publicity for several years with Universal Pictures. The easy lifestyle pulled her back to Nashville over the past decade, where interior design, magazine writing, and a regular style blog have kept her busy. And a perennial idea would finally ripen to fruit.
62 | February 2O11 | NashvilleArts.com
above :
Original drawing from Far from Heaven, 2002
and still image from the film (right)
“I came up with the idea years ago, pitched an article to Traditional Home, and they did eight pages on Design in the Movies. Judith Regan, the ‘Queen of All Media’ powerhouse publisher at HarperCollins, loved the idea and gave me a book deal. She had just done a previous book on costume design on film with the Costume Guild, so the Art Directors Guild was a natural tie-in. They were fabulous with research and opening doors for me.” Cathy spent four years working on the book, crawling through dusty attics and archives. “I spent many a fascinating afternoon with Dean Tavoularis who did all the Godfather films, the late Robert Boyle (he was 95 at the time and sharp as a whip—just passed away at 101 and worked well into his nineties) who designed many of the Hitchcock films, director Nancy Meyers, and the late Richard Sylbert who was responsible for iconic films such as The Graduate, Rosemary’s Baby, and Chinatown.” The toughest task was whittling down the seminal examples from each era. “It was hard to decide what to use from the ’20s to ’40s,” Whitlock explains, “because the films were so design rich, and believe it or not [there was] numerous material available. Many of the studios in the ’60s dumped material from their archives, so that period was difficult and unfortunate, as it’s one of my favorite decades.”
Original drawing from Lost Horizon, 1937
Eight was a wonderful study in white—Jean Harlow’s hair, gown, bedroom, and even her telephone were a blinding white—the designers used eleven shades in all. The Fountainhead’s contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired sets were wonderful, and I grew up on Doris Day films, so anything with a Manhattan interior always catches my eye.” So is there a Nashville house, room, or space that is especially movie-worthy? “Charlie and Laura Niewold’s house on Jackson Boulevard (they are clients and friends) reminds me of some of the great old sets of the ’30s. The house was built in 1928 and very European—a mix of Spanish and Turkish architecture—and I literally feel as if I am in ’20s and ’30s Hollywood.”
When designing interiors, Cathy’s been asked many times to mimic the look of sets that captivate certain viewers. It happened first in the 1980s. “The film was Someone to Watch Over Me, and actress Mimi Rogers’ character lived in this wonderful white-on-white Park Avenue apartment. Very sophisticated and elegant, and her bedroom was over the top. Since that time, everyone wants to live in a Nancy Meyers movie—It’s Complicated, The Holiday, and that fabulous beach house from Something’s Gotta Give. Personally I love the townhouse in The Thomas Crown Affair (second version) and the penthouse in A Perfect Murder.
If you’re like me, design decisions are always dicey. Will I like it next week or next year? Not to mention twenty years from now? I’m spending how much for an end table? Put an end to that insecurity. Pop some corn, dim the lights, and take a look at this book. Just be careful with those butter fingers. www.designsonfilm.com
“I love Top Hat and any of the big musical films from the ’30s. Dinner at
– Demetria Kalodimos
NashvilleArts.com | February 2O11 | 63
anything goes
Ron Galbraith
Chairman, OnFocus Healthcare What’s your greatest fear?
Losing my constant curiosity, asking questions like, “How does that happen?” or, “How do you do that?” What is the one thing you would change about yourself?
I would like to be less judgmental and more patient. I’m getting better, but it takes effort! When and where are you happiest?
Either standing in a Western stream surrounded by fifty hungry trout or sharing a glass of great red wine with my wife, Faith. The last great book you read?
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. I’m also enjoying Keith Richards’ book Life. What is your favorite possession?
A small glass Planets by the artist Josh Simpson. It reminds me how minute we are in the grand scheme of things. What trait do you deplore in others?
People who do not have genuine empathy towards others. Margaret Meade. She said: “Never underestimate what a small group of people can accomplish if they set their mind to it.” That’s a powerful challenge. I would love to discuss it with her. What person do you most admire?
A local example would have to be Martha Ingram. She’s made so much happen, when she could so easily not have.
Photo: Anthony Scarlati
Who would you love to be seated next to?
What’s your favorite wine?
Are you happy with where you’re heading?
A good Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
Yes. Because I don’t know exactly where that is. I tend to be most creative when I am surprised.
What movie could you watch over and over?
Who has most inspired you in your life?
Dr. Vic Lawhead, an undergraduate professor who challenged me to think beyond the obvious. He recently retired after seventy-five years of teaching. Your favorite place in the world?
I love Montalcino, Italy. But the hike to get up there is a killer. What is it like being you these days?
Less hectic. More focused. Still not enough time to explore all that I would like. What would surprise me to know about you?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Defiance, acceptance, redemption . . . it’s got it all. What natural talent would you like to have?
To play one musical instrument really well. If you could rewind your personal clock where would you end up?
Graduate School at Carnegie Mellon University. We worked hard, studied hard, debated hard, and played the meanest game of beer-fueled softball you can imagine. A good time was had by all. What would you do if you weren’t doing what you are doing?
That I started out as a cartoonist.
I’d be an artist, and I know how difficult that could be. I took a glassblowing class before going to see Chihuly—a humbling experience.
What do you consider your greatest accomplishment to date?
How’s this getting older thing going?
That’s tough. I don’t think in those terms.
Love it. You can’t lie to yourself anymore.
What’s your mantra?
What would you say is your greatest flaw?
A Goethe quote: “Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace and power in it.” I like it because of the emphasis on converting dreams into action.
Probably impatience. Hurry up, next question.
What quality do you most admire in people?
Their creativity, in whatever form it takes.
What’s your current state of mind?
I don’t look back with any regret. A word or phrase you overuse?
“Are you committed to this or not?”
NashvilleArts.com | February 2O11 | 79
my favorite painting
Rebecca Bauer
Photo: Anthony Scarlati
Marketing Communications Professional, Writer and Equestrian
Becky’s Horses Tommy Thompson surprised me and presented me with this painting after he and his wife visited my farm to use the landscape as a backdrop for his work. He captured a very special spot on the property I shared with my two horses. I love how he finds the peace in nature. What captivates me every time I look at it is the vast area of light and openness that looks westward. It gives me a sense of what was and what is still to come—it radiates hope and endless possibilities.
Becky’s Horses, Oil on canvas, 16” x 20” by Tommy Thompson
About the Artist
He has exhibited throughout the South, and his work is part of private
Tommy Thompson’s oil landscape paintings represent a blend of realism and
collections throughout the United States. The artwork of Thompson and his
impressionism capturing his signature journeys along the road less traveled.
daughter, Michelle Rideout, will be featured in a Father/Daughter exhibition
The artist grew up near Starkville, Mississippi, a place that instilled in him a
during the entire month of October 2011 at the Brentwood Public Library.
great love for nature. Now living in Florence, Alabama, Thompson continues to
Thompson is a member of the Chestnut Group of Nashville, Oil Painters
receive inspiration from the natural surroundings for his plein-air landscapes.
of America, Portrait Society of America, American Impressionist Society, Landscape Artists International, and Art for Patronage, and his work is
The work of this accomplished painter has been featured in several national
displayed locally in Laurel Leaf Gallery, Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee, and Loblolly
publications including Southwest Art and American Collector magazines. Gallery, Columbia, Tennessee. www.tommythompsonart.com 82 | February 2O11 | NashvilleArts.com