ARTS & CULTURE

is given to honor a recipient not only for his talent or his body of work but for the person himself, for that’s what animates all that we do as artists, animates everything that gets put down on canvas or gets carved into stone.” Jason turned to his father, “So Dad...,” and as he thanked his father, the tears began. The elder Mr. Bouldin, bowed by the weight of eighty-nine years, reached for his son, and they embraced; then Jason gingerly supported his father to the microphone. Four months later, Mr. Bouldin passed away.

The video of the event spoke more than words of praise. These were two incredibly fine men, humble despite their great artistic talents, who have animated their work with the measure of their own humanity.

And so, with the memory of that awards video, my interview with Jason Bouldin began.

Jason spends his weekdays in his remodeled studio in Oxford, next door to the home he shares with his wife Alicia and son William. Like his father’s work, Jason’s body of work is legendary.