Inside, they’re busy ripping up old carpet, painting walls white and installing track lighting.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Gregg Schlanger, APSU professor of art, said.

That’s because he hopes to open the space sometime this fall under the name “Austin Peay Downtown Gallery,” giving the University an off-campus site to highlight the talents of former art students.

“Basically, the main purpose of this gallery is to feature the work of alumni, but it will also be a chance to highlight the faculty,” he said. “We’ve got some amazing people out there, some successful artists who’ve been through our program.”

The APSU Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts recently leased the two-story building, with the intent of bringing a “contemporary gallery” to the Clarksville community, Schlanger said. He’ll work as the venue’s director during this inaugural year, and he hopes it’ll become a regular destination for people, particularly during the Historic Downtown District’s monthly First Thursday Art Walk events.

“It’s a short space, but we’ll be able to easily feature two artists, one upstairs and one downstairs,” Schlanger said. “We’ll do group shows and there’s potential to do some different kinds of exhibits.”

The Austin Peay Downtown Gallery doesn’t have an official opening day set yet, but Schlanger plans to welcome people inside sometime in October.

“We’re going to add to what’s going on around here,” he said. “It’s a way to help our alumni who are out there trying to build their careers. It gives them a line on their resume and allows us to brag about our program.”

For information on the Austin Peay Downtown Gallery, contact Schlanger at 931-221-7789 or .

The Customs House Museum’s Women’s History Month has been extended through June 28th. This special collaborative exhibit, Underneath and Overcoming, is a three part installation created by the museum’s Community Relations Director, Terri Jordan. The exhibit meshes together a visual interpretation of where woman have come from in dress and attitude. Working with poet and author R. MonaLeza and photojournalist David Farmerie, the installation can be summarized as what happens when you put an artist, a writer, and a photographer together in one room. As viewers peruse pieces from the museum collection and the images of Farmerie’s Seven Deadly Sins series, they can read the edited poetic writing of Mona’s on the coordinating panels.

David Farmerie’s documentary and humanistic work is at the core of his profession as a photographer. In 1990 he decided to engage, predominantly, in photographic projects that add to the ‘greater good’ of humanity. Through his documentary images David explores the mysteries and stories of the world’s cultures and people. Through his humanistic images, he captures moments in order to teach, and to gain understanding through the frozen moments of the images, allowing for introspection and ponder. David’s recent work has included a photographic story entitled Roadside Redemption and the documentary Tobacco Farming: An American Tradition. The Customs House Museum exhibit, Underneath and Overcoming, is his first exhibition of the Seven Deadly Sins series.

The Customs House Museum is the second largest general museum in Tennessee. The museum is located at the corner of Commerce and Second Streets, in historic downtown Clarksville.

Clarksville’s annual downtown music good times showcase is approaching with every day’s advance. Just as the trees are beginning to ‘bud up’ in anticipation of Spring’s arrival, so too is the City of Clarksville preparing for its annual Springtime music throwdown.

The artwork for the festival has already been secured. Promotional mini-flyers are available at City Hall and distribution of larger scale posters can’t be far behind. This year’s Rivers and Spires is slated for April 16th thru 18th.

Festival features include free admission, the River Queen and River Teen Pageant on April 4th (entry details available at the website), five entertainment stages; teen events and entertainment, a marketplace, the Kids Zone, the 15th Annual US Bank Art Open Exhibit (entry details at the website), the International Street Fest, Jazz ‘N Wine; Clarksville’s Got Talent, Children’s Parade, Arts & Crafts Vendors, Quilts of the Cumberland, Songwriters’ Showcase, Last Band Standing, Car Shows and much more.

For more information call: (931) 245-4344. Visit <www.riversandspires.com> for full details on the many events and competitions being staged as part of this Springtime festival in Historic Downtown Clarksville.

Two large columns serve as the gateway into Rugby Gates, a public art project in Memphis designed by Gregg Schlanger. Photo provided by Gregg Schlanger.

In the last two years, Gregg Schlanger, professor of art at Austin Peay State University, has processed 75,000 pounds of Memphis mud to make 7,000 bricks for a community-based public art project he was commissioned to build.

And after countless trips to Memphis for research, meetings and hard labor, the effort – which proved to be a true example of community involvement – is complete.

At 3 p.m., Dec. 13 in Memphis, a dedication ceremony will unveil Rugby Gates, a series of brick gateways along a main road in the Rugby neighborhood of Memphis. Schlanger will be among Memphis dignitaries and local residents to attend the event.

Rugby Gates marks a neighborhood where the original brickyards of Memphis were located. The project was commissioned by The Urban Art Commission, which administers the public art program for the city of Memphis. The concept for the project developed following several meetings with city officials, neighborhood organizers, local schools and extensive research on the history of the area.  

“Many people attached to this area helped me to put together the project,” Schlanger said. “Community involvement was displayed at all stages of this.”

The construction of Rugby Gates involved 26 Memphis high school students hired to assist in making bricks during a five-weeklong after-school program. Also, students went door to door, handing out 2,500 fliers informing the neighborhood about the project and receiving names to be carved into the bricks.

The final piece consists of 12 brick columns with carved relief depicting images relating to the area’s history. Two large columns serving as the gateway into the neighborhood, approximately the same location where the original stone gateway into Rugby was, are 4 feet by 20 feet. Another 10 columns, measuring 2 feet by 5 feet, serve as five small gateways.

“The history of Rugby as a brick-making area intrigued me,” Schlanger said.

The project began in November 2006. Schlanger transported 80,000 pounds of Memphis clay by trucks to his studio in Clarksville, where the clay was processed and the bricks were made and carved.

In addition to his ongoing work with Rugby Gates, Schlanger was involved in two other public art projects. He created a dozen digital print collages for the Daviess County Public Library in Owensboro, Ky., two of which were chosen to flank the entrance to the history wing of the library.

And in 2007, he spent five weeks in Germany, researching issues on global water consumption. His research culminated into an installation, titled “B.W.R. (basic water requirements) 50 Liters,” at Kunsthaus Potsdam, a nonprofit arts organization in Potsdam, Germany.

For more information about Rugby Gates or Schlanger’s previous work, contact Schlanger by telephone at (931) 221-7789 or by e-mail at .

The election on Nov 4th will be one of the most important elections to a lot of people, a Tour of Wurdz spokesman said, adding that on election night at the Icehouse Café on University Drive art works by some of the regions finest artists, including Brandt Hardin, will be on display to augment both poetry and prose offered during an open mic.

Enjoy the music performed by those who’s willing to get on stage and share themselves while also watching the election unfold on the wide screen T.V. The theme of this event is “Reality Check.”

With the mantra of being the “most open open mic on the planet, it is necessary to create  an atmosphere in events that is open to any and all people, not only on the mics but also on the walls as well. Our venues are diverse: three dozen events, and event including art shows, baby showers, political shows, heavy metal shows, and a Mother’s Day event in a park. Within the past two years the focus has been on giving benefits for various organizations that are beneficial to the community including a food drive for Centerstone, a benefit for the Ovarian Coalition for Middle Tennessee, several fund raising events for the Army Emergency Relief Fund, including a fund raiser for a Christian family center in rural Tennesee. With every event three things are always present: words, arts and music. Having all three present at each event gives it the wholeness that is needed to provide our commitment to contribute.

An Evening With the Artists will showcase the work of Heidi Hopkins and Winnie Bagley, along with selections from numerous other area artists, at Silke’s Old World Breads, Bakery and Cafe from 7-8:30 p.m. Saturday, October 11.  Silke’s is located at 1214A College Street.

Silke’s, one of the city’s treasures and pleasures, is more than a place for superb food, pastries and breads; it is a also a gallery displaying the paintings, photography, pottery and other items created by artists from Clarksville and its surrounding community.

In addition to the comfortable main dining area, there is a small gallery room that can comfortably accommodate 16-20 diners, and another table for 6-8 people just inside the main entrance. Each of these comfortable areas is overflowing with art to be be enjoyed and savored just as much as the food pouring forth from Silke’s kitchens.

The public is invited to meet the creators of the new works now displayed at Silke’s.

Saturday was the perfect day for the annual Frolic on Franklin, a celebration of local arts and artisans. Partly sunny skies and a cooling breeze drifted over Franklin Street as vendors set up their tents and sidewalk displays for the event, which featured demonstrations of painting, wood-turning, and other crafts.

The sidewalk in front of the Roxy Regional Theater became an impromptu stage, with ample seating under a canopy for those who chose to watch dancers, or listen to vocalists and musicians who offered non-stop entertainment.  The days activities were capped by the Gala Opening of the 2008-09 Roxy Season and the initial production, The Robber Bridegroom.

Though crowds of browsers seemed evident throughout the day, a number of merchants noted that both attendance and purchasing was down from last year, with some speculating that economic factors including high gas prices across the region  continue to impact retail and discretionary sales. Nonetheless, those who attended seemed happy with a day spent at an old-fashioned “Main Street” fair.

Photos by Bill Larson

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The Frolic on Franklin: A Celebration of the Arts, a portion of the festival, is free and open to the public. The artists will display and sell their work, including art, jewelry, wood crafts, pottery and more. In addition, a minimum of five demonstrations including pottery, wood working/turning, a letterpress and painting, will be showcased, offering parents and children alike the opportunity to watch and learn. Interactive opportunities for the children will be made through activities such as sidewalk chalk and face painting.

This event was conceived by the Downtown Clarksville Association (DCA) members to bring arts to the streets on the same day The Roxy Regional Theatre hosts its annual Gala.

This event was initiated in order to draw attention to the numerous talented artists in the community.  Through the generous donations of DCA sponsors, the organization is able to provide tents, support and advertising for the event. Volunteers have been busy planning this event for the past year and will be present the day of the event to make sure all runs smoothly—from setting up tents, to providing the artists with breaks and assisting with preparations for the final “leg of our event” the Annual Gala for The Roxy Regional Theatre. The Gala brings hundreds of people from all over the region to the Roxy to enjoy an evening of fine food, art and, of course, theatre. The Roxy has been producing theatre in Downtown Clarksville for 25 years.

The Gala, the Roxy’s largest annual fund raiser, begins at 6 PM with outdoor dining (catered by The Bound’ry in Nashville), followed by an auction of art donated by regional artists.  The entertainment for the evening will be The Robber Bridegroom, a musical which combines a bluegrass score with a planter’s daughter, a rascally robber of the woods, an evil stepmother and a hostile talking head-in-a-trunk for an evening of pure delight and uproarious laughter.

Performances during the daytime will be by Northeast High School Choir, West Creek Middle School Choir, bluegrass by Stuart Bonnington, Acro Dance and Robert Jordan, vocalist, as well as one-act plays by the Roxy School of the Arts.  There will also be activities for the children—face painting and sidewalk art

Frolic on Franklin: A Celebration of the Arts is supported by the generous donations of our sponsors. Through their contributions, DCA is able to offer this event with no charge to the displaying artists or the public. The phrase “struggling artist” is well-known and oft used, which led DCA to make it as easy as possible for participating artists to have every opportunity to make a profit instead of gambling on booth expense and the hopes of an interested audience.

As Historic Downtown Clarksville continues to regain strength as a viable business, shopping and dining district, we hope to increase the number of festivals and activities for the families of Clarksville and the surrounding area. The DCA is firmly committed to the concept of combining the arts with the revitalization of the downtown area and is “proud to be part of the revitalization of this important part of Clarksville history”. The public is invited to come and experience all we have to offer.

The DAC Inaugural art exposition event serves as prelude to annual Riverfest festival and promotes independent celebration of the visual arts and the art community.

The Downtown Artists Co-op hosted the inaugural of the Regional Juried Art Exposition on September 4. DAC’s Franklin Street showroom was filled with over 300 pieces of art submitted for the exposition.

An estimated 300 people viewed the DAC Juried Exhibition on opening night

“The submission response to this inaugural competition was greater than expected. We hope for even more next year,” said Betty Liles. She explained that in non-juried expositions, every submission is displayed and a judge selects the winners. Entries are submitted mostly from local or immediate regional community artists. In a juried exposition, selections are received from a wider area, often from outside the state, are viewed by a panel of art experts for inclusion in the exposition or rejection and then are judged by the various specified categories.

Best of Show winner Lessie v. Dixon with "Harvest Time"

The winner of the inaugural Regional Juried Art Exposition ‘Best of Show’ is Lessie Venardo Dixon of Gallatin. His painting, an oil portrait titled Harvest Time captured the $500 prize. He has been painting for over four years and has been drawing since his early childhood. He developed his talent progressing from pencil and charcoal to pastels, to watercolors and acrylics. He met Dawn E. Whitelow and Michael Shane Neal who directed his focus and mentored him in portraiture. He said his ultimate goal is to win the Portrait Society of America competition in 2009. It’s an annual event which happens before the Regional Juried Art Exposition.

In addition to Dixon’s best of show award, the exposition awards listing include four categories with the following winners: 3D/Fiber Arts- 1st Place, Konstantin Jatropius, Crucified; 2nd Place, Sarah Hightower Hurst, Dreaming in the Wind, 3rd Place, Shelia Caspino, The Color of Money; Mixed Media- 1st Place, Rickey Williams, Psalm 23; 2nd Place, Claudia Balthrop, Untitled; 3rd Place, Brandt Hardin, Scared Texts: Clear/Balance; Honorable Mention, Charles V. Bennett Jr., Sound the Battle Cry.

In the category of Painting/Works on Paper, besides the best of show award: 1st Place, Jason Daniel Jackson,On the Rocks; 2nd Place, Eleanor Baker, At the Old Time Fiddlers’ Jamboree; 3rd Place, Karen Enright, Summertime…and the living is easy; Honorable Mention, Richard L. Milam, Eat Your Greens. In the photography category, 1st Place-Mitzi Cross, Portrait of a Woman; 2nd Place, Winnie Bagley, Untitled; 3rd Place, Beverly Parker, Flowers at Customs House; and Honorable Mention, Richard Pugh, Waiting.

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In "King of Spades" (17 X 23, 2008), Lewis’s most recent work embodies her aesthetics and ideals as an artist that anyone can have their portrait done, and shows her flare for detail while capturing the innermost essence of her subject, a trait she shares with regional portrait artist, Billy Price Carroll. Featured here is Ryle.

Though Monet said, “My life is useless,” artist Judy Lewis disagrees with this statement, though she can see how Monet may have felt this way. “It is a tough life to live struggling to make a living as an artist because you feel such desire and passion. If you look at art history, many artists lacked the customer base to feel appreciated during their lives,” according to Lewis, a native Clarksvillian.

Lewis, a devoted mother, has one daughter, Keegan, from a previous marriage and has lived in Clarksville for the majority of her life. In addition, Lewis has done work in Texas, and recently returned from Gettysburg, PA.  Lewis has been steadily producing art work sometime after, Art Cantu, a Christian minister from south Texas, witnessed to her, and sparked a hope in her that she could achieve her dreams. At this point in her career,  Lewis has done over 300 exhibit-worthy pieces, and continues to produce more art every day, not counting numerous drawings.

Of late, Lewis has delved into painting oils and acrylics with a style and color technique as unique and original as her drawings. The painting, Phoenix Rising on Angel’s Wings, captures the colors of a young girl and her gallant horse, Angel, as they properly go riding across a verdant field. Her vivid brush strokes in Christmas Carriages on Franklin Street capture the light and color of night lights downtown during a Christmas extravaganza.

Starting out, Lewis did drawings, and Christian poster art, and was always drawing more. Ms. Lewis got five commissions for her work from having her art work in a downtown window in Schumer’s. The client later told her, “You’re the best kept secret in this town.” As we sit in a local restaurant, Lewis unveils her life as a regional artist in the following interview.

At what point did you first realize you were an artist?

“I always thought I was since I was a kid—first grade—all I wanted to do when I was a kid was color. My friend would get mad at me and say, ‘all you ever do is color.’”

“But it goes earlier than that. In my grandmother’s Bible there were real, detailed paintings in between each book of the Bible, and woodcuts in the appendixes. I was around four or five at the time. I remember while I was redrawing them, the thought came to me–maybe I want to be an artist? At that moment something inside me said that I wanted to be an artist. Growing up, I got in trouble in school a lot for drawing in class.”

Could you tell us some more about your work?

“I mostly do portraiture. I do love to do portraits of people. Norman Rockwell was a storyteller, but feel that I can capture a feeling like the innocence of childhood. Say I had twenty studies of a child’s portrait but there was only one that captured my heart. That’s when I know it’s going to be a good portrait, and my goal is to pay tribute to that person the best I possibly can.”

"Portrait of Abraham Lincoln" ( 17 X 23, 2006) by Judy Lewis was done in Gettysburg, PA., site of Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address, during his dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery.

One of my favorite pieces that you’ve done is the portrait of Abraham Lincoln. Is that the case with this historical piece too?

“Yes, I wanted to portray Abraham Lincoln as best I can. I loved going to the Smithsonian and seeing the presidential portraits, but Lincoln was the first one I wanted to draw. Also, because I was in Gettysburg, it was right to do him and I’m glad I did.”

What about doing portraits of historical figures and celebrities?

“I’d like to do Joan of Arc’s portrait! I’d also like to do Wilma Rudolph, Frank Sutton, Sgt. Carter from Gomer Pyle, [because] he’s from Clarksville—anyone from Clarksville who was well known, or celebrities.”

Why Joan of Arc?

“Because she’s an interesting character in history. You don’t see a lot of portraits of great women, since it’s been a men’s world.”

Which five artists would you like to be stranded with on a deserted island? You know—the art world’s version of Lost?

“Van Gogh, Renoir, Norman Rockwell, da Vinci, and Michelangelo. I’ve read a lot of van Gogh—his life was depressing but interesting. Other artists I like are Sargent. Rockwell is number one for me. The art world didn’t consider him [because] he was more of an illustrator but an illustrator is still an artist. And I like Norman Rockwell’s portraiture. He did Eisenhower’s portrait and Nixon’s portrait—they were in the Smithsonian. Norman Rockwell is a major influence.”

Have you found it difficult having a realistic drawing style in a contemporary art world?

“No, I just do what I do and I’m not concerned with what the art world says about a particular style. You don’t see hordes of people going to see movies they don’t understand—they go to movies that touch their hearts—I think art is so loved. That’s why Norman Rockwell is so beloved—he did work people could understand. To me, art is art if it shows emotion—I think that’s good art—great art. I like Jackson Pollock—his work was well balanced and beautiful. Georges Seurat’s pointillism—I love it. In fact, when I was a kid when I saw A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte— I said, ‘I love it!’ There’s something about umbrellas—the parasols and it was brilliant outdoor lighting.”

How do any of these people influence your work and why?

“Renoir—Luncheon of the Boating Party—influenced me because I like his romantic themes, his impressionism, his boating party, and people with feeling. I think I want to achieve something like Renoir, except in a Norman Rockwell fashion. [Laughs] I also have been influenced by Chuck Close’s big portraits—he’s a contemporary influence, and Daniel Green.”

Is creativity innate? What are your beliefs on this?

“I think we’re all born with it, because we’re made in God’s image and he’s the creator. I think we all like to draw when we’re kids—I don’t know any kid that doesn’t like to draw, but when they grow up—adult—they think it’s stupid. I think we can create far beyond what we think we can actually create. We don’t realize the depth of our own creativity—we’re limited by how much we think we can create. A lot of times I felt like Don Quixote chasing rainbows and windmills and [thinking] it’s not going to happen, or is this really real? Chasing something after the wind— it was right after that Art ministered to me in Texas and I became a Christian that my art took off. He asked me, ‘What do you want to do in your life?’ ‘To be an artist,’ I said. Something sparked. He gave me a glimmer—just a glimmer of hope that with God all things are possible and it was all I needed to start drawing again. If you live your whole life without being an artist when you’re supposed to be, you’re going to regret it. Ten years ago I thought I’ll be better than I am today and it gave me hope.”

Where do you see yourself then in ten years from now?

“I’ll be better ten years down the road than I am now. I like to challenge myself.”

Training

“I’m self-taught. We’re all self-taught in a way. Even with someone training you—you have to compose the piece and do the work yourself. I read a lot of books and practiced hard. I drew a lot. I have 300 final pieces. But that doesn’t account for every practice drawing by any stretch. If you count them, oh, who knows? It’s very difficult to draw for pleasure and try to sell [it] versus doing commissions since I’m used to doing commissions. Although, I think they’re marketable, I do some pieces for me.”

What are the best and worst parts of being a full time working artist?

“The best part is being your own boss, and doing what you’re free to do, and you’re happy. The worst part is if I’m able to survive or not. I hate the term starving artist. I feel like it’s the only profession where people expect them to be starving—you don’t hear of a homebuilder being a starving homebuilder, or a doctor, [etc.]. Donating work is great—if you have pieces lying around—I’ve given to auctions in the past. I also feel it’s the only profession where people expect you to do work for free—people don’t realize that talent is work that you need to be paid for.”

“Early on, when I saw it as a hobby, I kept practicing, and practicing thinking one day I’d be good enough and in those times I would often give work away. In the past. I’ve had to do work on weekends as a single mom, and when I was working other forty-hour-a-week-jobs. The myth of the starving artist is so strong, and it needs to be broken. Getting people to pay what you need is difficult because of the starving artist myth. It’s not cool to be a starving artist these days–you have to be able to make a decent living, even though you love fulfilling your passion but now I have to look at it as a business.”

"Working Hands" ( 16 X 19.375, 1995) displays Lewis’s knowledge of art history in doing work after Albrect Dürer and Dürer’s influence on her life and work.

Tell me why Working Hands is one of the most beloved pieces you’ve done?

Ms. Lewis shows me a picture after Albrect Dürer of his Praying Hands, that she has entitled, Working hands and tells me how Dürer’s story inspired her to draw this piece and to write his story over the art. “Albrect Dürer had an older friend –another struggling artist who roomed with him.”

“Albrect Dürer did these praying hands in a woodcut as a tribute to his roommate’s hands. Albrect Dürer’s older roommate spent his life scrubbing floors in a restaurant to support Dürer and got a job until Dürer made enough money to support them both with his woodcuts that finally sold years later. Dürer told his roommate he could go do his art now, but both his hands were so shot—his roommate couldn’t hold a paint brush anymore due to the pain. One night Dürer saw his roommate praying when he came home, and Dürer said he’d paint those hands to show that toil and work for others—the sacrifice his roommate made for him. God honored Albrect Dürer and the man who toiled for him.”

What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?

“Be committed to the piece. Give yourself time and patience, and try not to get discouraged. Just keep doing it, because you’re going to be further reaching your goal just pressing on. It takes a lifetime and you can’t do it with just a few pieces. When you get forty or fifty pieces in a room—that’s when you can tell an artist’s quality and workman style. And seeing your work in a collection—seeing my work in a collection gave me, for the first time, an appreciation of my work. Usually, you’re just so focused on one piece. It’s the feeling and emotion that’s there in the room. Get to that point, and feel [it].”

What are your hobbies or life outside of art?

“There’s nothing much outside of art, spirituality, and God. But, I like to read about quantum physics—atoms popping in and out—where do they go when they pop out, and pop back in? If you break matter down, you’ve got nothing—where does matter start? It all comes down to spirituality. I think there’s a spiritual lesson in everything. God is literally in the details.”

Of her early works, Lewis said that Jaime and Baby Lucy was one of her first portraits. Dormitory Window was one of Lewis’s first pieces drawn at APSU of two college students looking out a Sevier Hall window. In 1984-85 she had the prints shrink-wrapped and placed in the APSU bookstore. Local street scenes that Lewis has vividly rendered include Owen’s Barber Shop, The Roxy, Ely Feed Co. and Uneeda Biscuits.

"Portrait of Alexis" (17 X 17, 1996) shows a young girl and her pet dog sitting on the steps as she enjoys reading her book.

A volunteer, Lewis is a member of the Downtown Artist’s Co-op, which helps promote the arts in the community. Of her current exhibit at Hodgepodge, Lewis said, “Paige King has been very, very helpful in helping me show my work since I’ve returned to Clarksville.” Lewis has portraits in homes that range from factory workers’ homes to mansions of high stature, and covers a vast client range and all income levels. Subject matter in Lewis’s works ranges from pets, animals, children, people, and famous figures to street scenes, and landscapes.

When asked about her portrait and art work commissions, Lewis said, “I want people to understand I can do a portrait of anyone—as individual in character as the subjects themselves. By that I mean not just a stately business man or woman, but portraits of teenagers, or young adults. Portraits always last forever, and the older they get, the better. Photographs fade and the clothes seem dated by time. Unlike photographs, portraits have a timeless presence and they get handed down from one generation after another. People have hunted me down to do portraits. I can try to meet anybody’s price range.”

If inquiring about a commission, call Judy Lewis for an appointment at (717)-357-7526 to visit her at her studio on Excel Rd., off Madison St. Lewis is open to inquiries for a wide variety of other subjects in various media.

After speaking with Ms. Lewis, I felt like I was just beginning to scratch the surface of a deep pool. Judy Lewis’s current work can be seen in Rogate’s Boutique and in her two person show with Reisa Peters at Hodgepodge through the 3^rd of September. Lewis will also have a booth at the Frolic on Franklin Street event in downtown Clarksville on September 20th.

Current Exhibits:

Rogate’s Boutique

Phone : (931) 645-3526

115 Franklin St
Clarksville, TN 37040

Hodgepodge

Phone : (931) 647-0444

Upstairs Gallery; Thru Sept. 3^rd

125 Franklin St
Clarksville, TN 37040

]]> http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/08/28/through-the-looking-glass%e2%80%94an-introduction-into-the-world-of-artist-judy-lewis/feed/ 0 http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/08/24/rodin-a-magnificent-obsession-to-be-showcased-at-nashvilles-frist-center/ http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/08/24/rodin-a-magnificent-obsession-to-be-showcased-at-nashvilles-frist-center/#comments Sun, 24 Aug 2008 19:00:18 +0000 News Staff http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/?p=8024

Rodin's classic tribute to love: The Kiss, from his epic The Gates of Hell.

At the peak of his career, Auguste Rodin was regarded as the greatest sculptor since Michelangelo.

Devotees of classic art are in for a very early holiday gift in September, courtesy of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, which will showcase a stunning exhibition of the work of Auguste Rodin.

Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession, a collection from the the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, is the upcoming retrospective of Rodin. Among the 60 pieces in this exhibit are casts of The Thinker (circa 1880) and The Kiss (1881-82), both drawn from his classic The Gates of Hell. The exhibit opens September 12th in Nashville and will run through January 4, 2009.

The body of work by Rodin (1840-1917) “illustrates the artist’s innovative contributions to modern sculpture. This exhibit spans the length of Rodin’s career. He devised his own expressive language, conveying the vitality of the human spirit through a vigorous modeling technique that emphasized his personal response to the subject.

Linking the French academic tradition, which idealized the human form, with the experimental ethos of modernism, Rodin frequently achieved a dynamic interplay between stasis and movement. In many of his sculptures tension is created by contrasting highly refined aspects of human anatomy and areas of unfinished clay or marble, an approach he admired in certain of Michelangelo’s works. Rodin’s reputation as the leading sculptor of his time led to such major commissions as The Gates of Hell (1880–ca. 1900), Burghers of Calais (1884), and Monument to Honoré de Balzac (1897).

“This exhibition is a wonderful follow-up to Monet to Dalí: Modern Masters from the Cleveland Museum of Art, shown earlier this year at the Frist Center. That exhibition featured several major works by Rodin, showing him in the context of burgeoning modernism in late 19th century.

“A Magnificent Obsession enables visitors to explore his genius in far greater depth, to understand the sources and concepts that inspired Rodin’s passionate outlook on life, which may in turn inspire us as it has so many people around the world.” — Mark Scala, chief curator at the Frist Center

A Bit of History: The early work of Rodin

In his teens, Rodin attended the government school for craft and design, where he learned to draw plaster casts of ancient sculpture and to model in clay. Although he sought admission to the prestigious École des Beaux Arts, he was rejected three times. Rodin’s struggle for recognition dominated his early career. During the 1860s Rodin submitted his work to the annual juried Paris Salon exhibitions—the most important shows of their day—but suffered a series of rejections. In 1877 his work was finally admitted to the Salon. Significant early works, such as Mask of the Man with the Broken Nose (1863–64) and Bust of Jean-Baptiste Rodin (1860), Rodin’s earliest portrait and first known sculpture of his father, are included in the exhibition.

Auguste Rodin's The Thinker, Modeled 1880, reduced in 1903. Cast number and date of cast unknown, Alexis Rudier Foundry. Bronze, 14 ¾ x 7 ⅞ x 11 ⅜ in. Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, promised gift to the North Carolina Museum of Art

The Gates of Hell

During Rodin’s time, the most highly regarded sculptures were projects created for public places, because they were thought to have universal rather than personal meaning. Rodin received his first public commission in 1880 to create a sculptural entrance for a new museum of decorative arts in Paris, which ultimately was never built.

The Gates of Hell (1880–ca. 1900) featured hundreds of figures modeled in low to high relief and in the round. The imagery was inspired by Dante Alighieri’s (1265–1321) Inferno, which was part of The Divine Comedy—an epic poem written about 1308 that depicted the author’s fictional journey through Hell and Purgatory to Paradise. Rodin’s environment of tormented souls represents not only the underworld but also the suffering of humankind in general.

Rodin made many of the figures originally modeled for The Gates of Hell into freestanding, independent sculptures, often either reducing or enlarging them. When separated from the original The Gates of Hell, these works achieved new meanings. Among the most well known of these independent pieces are The Thinker (1880), The Kiss (ca. 1881–82), and The Three Shades (1880–1904), each on view in the exhibition. This practice of using fragments or sections from one project in multiple ways and producing them in various sizes was part of Rodin’s creative method from 1880 onward.

Auguste Rodin: Mask of the Man with the Broken Nose. Modeled 1863–64, Musée Rodin cast 3/12 in 1978, Coubertin Foundry. Bronze, 12 ½ x 7 ¼ x 6 in. Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation, promised gift to the North Carolina Museum of Art

Lost-Wax Casting Process

This portion of the exhibition provides visitors with a step-by-step view of the lost-wax casting process, the most common casting method used through the centuries for all kinds of bronze objects. It allows the artist to reproduce the delicate nuances of an original clay, plaster or wax model.

Studies for Monuments to Balzac and Burghers of Calais

The Monument to Honoré de Balzac: In 1891 Rodin was commissioned by the Societé des Gens de Lettres (Society of Men of Letters) to create a monument to Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), one of France’s most influential yet controversial writers. For the next seven years Rodin struggled to find an accurate physical portrayal of Balzac that would also symbolize the writer’s creative genius.

Since Balzac had been dead for 40 years, Rodin also faced the challenge of rendering a likeness of a man he had never seen. He consulted photographs, a process in its infancy in Balzac’s time, and conducted other research. During his attempts to achieve a compelling likeness of Balzac, Rodin completed at least 50 studies; some convey the writer’s actual appearance while others are more subjective and abstract.

In 1898 Rodin presented the final plan for the Balzac commission to the public. The nine-foot plaster model, highly modern in its abstraction, was met with outrage, disbelief, and ridicule; as a result the literary society would not accept it. Deeply hurt by the criticism, Rodin refused to allow the sculpture to be cast during his lifetime.
Burghers of Calais (1884–1888): Commissioned by the French city of Calais, this monument represents an event that occurred there in 1347, during the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). Six leading citizens volunteered themselves for execution by the English in exchange for their lifting an 11-month siege of their city.

La Porte de l'Enfer (translated The Gates of Hell) is a monumental sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from "The Inferno", the first section of The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. It stands at 6 m high, 4 m wide and 1 m deep (19.69'H × 13.12'W × 3.29'D) and contains 180 figures. The figures range from 15 cm high up to more than one metre. Several of the figures were also cast independently by Rodin.

Rodin was asked to commemorate this event by designing a monument for the town square. He completed many studies before deciding on his final version. He modeled the figures nude before clothing them for the final version. Later he continued to work with these figures, creating enlargements and reductions, and incorporating partial figures into other compositions.

Rodin’s final version defied French artistic traditions for portraying heroism. Instead of depicting these citizens as lofty and selfless, the artist showed each at the moment he realized the limits of his own resolve to sacrifice himself. The figures are barefoot, wearing sackcloth, and their individual responses to their plight are evident in their various tormented or despondent poses and gestures. Rodin’s shift from a focus on triumphant glory to human suffering changed the form and meaning of the public monument as it was known at the time.

The exhibition features several studies of individual figures and heads and an early maquette of the monument.

Rodin: A Magnificent Obsession also features portraits, maquettes, partial figures and hands by the artist. Supplemental items including works on paper, photographs, portraits of the artist and a film about The Gates of Hell (at left) are on view as well.

Related Exhibition

Rodin was a significant influence on a number of photographers who rose to prominence shortly after the turn of the 20th century, including Edward Steichen (1879–1973) and Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946), both of whom are represented in The Best of Photography and Film from The George Eastman House Collection, an exhibition on view this fall at the Frist Center. Call 615.744.3247 to register for this workshop.

Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, located at 919 Broadway in downtown Nashville, Tenn., is an art exhibition center dedicated to presenting the finest visual art from local, regional, U.S. and international sources in a program of changing exhibitions. The Frist Center’s Martin ArtQuest Gallery features more than 30 interactive stations relating to Frist Center exhibitions. Gallery admission to the Frist Center is free for visitors 18 and younger and to Frist Center members. Frist Center admission is $8.50 for adults, $7.50 for seniors and military and $6.50 for college students with ID. Thursday evenings, 5–9 p.m., admission is free for college students with a valid college ID. Discounts are offered for groups of 10 or more with advance reservation by calling 615.744.3246. The Frist Center is open seven days a week: Mondays through Wednesdays, and Saturdays, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m.–9 p.m. and Sundays, 1–5:30 p.m., with the Frist Center Café opening at noon. Additional information is available by calling 615.244.3340 or by visiting our Web site at www.fristcenter.org.

The pensive Spence monument is intriguing as the only one not immaculately tended.

Ten years ago friends introduced me to Hope Cemetery, first in a quick drive-by on the way to somewhere else, and later, for a “quick” tour that became a lengthy monument-by-monument tour. For these monuments are like no others. They honor the dead, but are of themselves museum quality works of art and imagination that attract a flurry of annual visitors from all over the world. The granite monuments, carved from Barre’s own Rock of Ages Quarry, rank as the best granite craftsmanship in the world. Most people do not realize that many of the monuments across our country are crafted from Barre (and other Vermont) granite.

I walked the peaceful, quiet grounds, awestruck by the ingenuity of many of the stones, and by the willingness of the creators to step beyond the traditional “names and dates of life and death” inscription and create memorials that capture the essence of individual in the form of a hobby, a career, a love, a memory…

To say that the images unfolding here are breathtaking is an understatement. I was walking through an open air museum of the finest art.

Barre was known for its master craftsmen, Italian stone carvers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These master craftsmen were artists of incredible talent and ingenuity, working the rock solid stone into forms of grace and beauty, power and poignancy. The cemetery includes master works of custom figures, bas-reliefs and ornate crypts, where many of these craftsmen and their families were ultimately buried.

The Braun monument with its open book is one of my favorites.

Inscribed in cursive, in impeccable French, a tribute to Madeleine Braun (1931-1994)

This poem, in flawless cursive, in French, remains a tribute to Madeleine Braun. I was attracted to it first because of its sheer beauty, then the French language I love, and then the inscription “Madeleine,” which was my late mother’s name (she also spoke fluent French).

Inscribed in the base, the name 'Madeleine"

On every visit, I walk up to this stone and run my fingers over the inscription, never tiring of the words and the love they represent. It reads in part:

Just as a ray of sunshine, you illuminate my life
with your magnificent smile, your grand generosity,
your dynamic energy, and your marvelous joy in life.
Young of heart, body and spirit (mind)…
you are an admirable example of courage and love…
Your husband, your sons, and all who love you
We think of you and want to say ‘Thank you, Madeleine’
for giving us the chance to love you.”

The Braun monument dominates its section of Hope Cemetery

The theme of love eternal continues with the near life-sized sculpture of William and Gwendolyn Halvosa, sitting up, one can only imagine them propped up on feather pillows, in their marriage bed. Pajama’d figures, shown holding hands, between them the inscription “Set me as a seal upon thine heart for love is strong as death” from the Song of Solomon 8:6. Their tombs stretch out before them, twin “beds” with a single headboard.

Eternal love

Hope Cemetery was established in 1895 and originally contained 53 acres. Since that time it has expanded to a total of 65 acres. Edward P. Adams, a nationally known landscape architect, created the original plan for the cemetery. In the past century, each section of the grounds has emerged after meticulous planning and intricate design, with the approved monuments representing strict architectural and artistic standards. The cemetery was created with an eye to attractiveness, ease of maintenance, and the provision of a unique opportunity for families to honor their loved ones.

While the cemetery has an seemingly infinite array of unique headstones, there is a uniform feel to the grounds because every single one of the monuments and crypts is carved from Barre Gray Granite. Custom carved stones are expensive, so many of the cemetery’s headstones are traditional, but among the more standardized markers visitors will find the amusing, the curious, the inspiring, the sentimental, and outright masterpieces.

A 1/2 scale replica of race car #61 celebrates local driver Joey Laquerre, Jr, who died in a 1991 snowmobile mishap.

Among the more unusual, and distinctly non-traditional, monuments is this race car, a half-size replica of race car #61, designed to celebrate local driver Joey Laquerre, Jr, who died in a 1991 snowmobile mishap. This is followed by a plane, captured angled in flight.

A bi-plane banks sharply on its way to Cloud Nine

Brusa monument: The Dying Man

The stones represent the carvers, the artisans, themselves.

“The Dying Man” is stone artisan Louis Brusa’s own grave, a strange and evocative portrait of the carver in the arms of his wife, slipping into the afterlife. Brusa died in 1937 to silicosis, an illness that plagued stonecarvers and was which was caused by breathing in stone particles in the air at the quarries. In 1930, then modern ventilation equipment elimated that health hazard from the quarry workplace.

Brusa was the creator of one of Hope Cemetery’s most striking monuments, the stone known as the “Bored Angel,” also known as the “Sitting Angel”. Near life-sized, she sits, resting, between columns, her legs crossed, head balanced on her chin, wings flowing to the back of the stone. her look is pensive, thoughtful, perhaps bored as some suggest. We can’t help wondering what, or who, she is waiting for. or remembering.

Louis Brusa

Just as the monument are unique, so too are the numerous mausoleums “museum worthy.” All are fashioned of that hard gray granite, the angles sharp and precise, the columns immaculately rounded, the stained glass windows impeccably fashioned, and the bas reliefs, sometimes in bronze, the equal of what might be found in any world class museum.

Rock of Ages and Barre’s granite quarries lie southeast of Barre, Vermont (I-89, exit 7), and the Granite Sculptures of Hope Cemetery are set across a rolling hillside just off the main road in downtown Barr. The perfect time to view this outdoor memorial sculpture garden is in the autumn, on a fall foliage vacation tour, when nature bathes the hillsides in colors, a fitting backdrop for the vibrant work of these Barre stonecutters.

The best (or most intriguing) of Hope Cemetery:

CALCAGNI: Towering colonnade memorial with an exquisite hand-carved angel centered betweed two four-colum sections. Note the symetry, the perfection of the horizontal lines in the structure of this piece.

ZORZI: A softly curved hand places a bouquet of flowers over the oval inscripted area; the flowers seem suspened over air, a space meticulously hollowed out to create that aura of dimension.

BONAZZI-SULLIVAN: This mausoleum, created with sharp angles and perfect symmetry, is soften by its bronze door, a panel lavishly inscribe with the figure of a woman, head bowed to her arms, perhaps weeping, beneath carved boughs.

BONAZZI-SULLIVAN: A close-up of the figure reveals the sharpness of pine needle clusters and pine cones above and behind the figure. From the strands of upswept hair to the drape of her gown, to the oval leaves before her, she lends an element of softness and gentle sorrow to this otherwise austere crypt.

GIUSEPPE DONATI: A bas-relief of a soldier smoking a cigarette; a portrait of his wife or girlfriend floats in a curl of smoke.

MALNATI: Finely carved ribbons and floral work are a delicate shift in style from the many rugged monuments here.

BRUSA: Between stone pillars, this angel sits, head in hands, waiting. Just sitting? Is she bored?

BRUSA: Brusa carved this angel, with her strong aquiline nose, ragged curls and partially unfurled wings.

CASSAVOY: The corner of this monument reveals a woman outside her country home, pine trees filing the Green Mountain land behind her.

COLUMBO: Stunned rugged cut is tamed by the rolling curves of the scroll and the bursts of wilfowers beneat an assymetrical single column and partial arch

HILLFERTY: This stunning embrace of an angel calls to mind a similar piece by Daniel Chester French, whose "embrace" was inspired by a plume of steam at Yellowstone.

ERIKSON-ANDERSON: A ship sailing the sea; the simplest of wave lines at the top of each section balance the

ELIA CORTI: Cut from a single piece of granite by the brother of the deceased. Outstanding hand carved life size figure. Notice the detail of the clothing, the tools of the granite trade. Background is shell rock finish.

ELIA CORTI: Profile view of this three dimensional figure

SIMONETTA: Sorrowful figure of vieled woman on one knee, holding flowers that droop earthward. Contemplation? Weeping?

SIMONETTA: Close-up of the female figure

SIMONETTA: This oval portrait of the woman buried here is inset into the granite base

EGENIOA CARUSI: Striking bust leaves no doubt of the power and persona of Mr. Carusi. Museum quality work.

HALVOSA: One of the incriptions on the "beds"

The Corrigan stone includes the flight of wild geese

The tall Friberg monument is elegant simplcity. The 'wings" on either side seem poised to protect, or possibly take flight.

The back road at Hope Cemetery is lined with meticulously carved mausoleums, some with ornate bronze doors and gates, others with elegant stained glass windows.

The Cruickshank monument is magnificent simplicity: a rugged cross that stands nearly ten feet high

The Rouleau Mausoleum, with bronze doors, stauary and urns.

The assymetrical Rovelli stone includes a scroll and meticulously detailed spier mums with every delicate petal hand carved.

The Martel monument has a unique inscription on each side of its cube

Two pyramids with details inscriptions and quotes stand behind more traditional monuments at Hope Cemetery

Inscription on one of Vrooman pyramids

Bible quote fills on side of the Vrooman pyramid

The Bettini armchair has an intricate floral design on the face of each arm.

Grenier's love of violin immortalized in this bas relief

ROULEAU: Impeccably carved Mausoleum with ornate doors and guardian statuary

The Entrance to the Hope Cemetery

CUMMING: A flower garden

MAURICE: Christ kneeling in the garden

SPENCE: Hauntingly pensive

THOMAS: Love

DAVIS: Remembering his love of the sport

PECOR: In the hands of the Lord

In the midst of grandeur, this simple ceramic plaque honors a teacher.

In downtown Barre, this monument stands as a tribute to the stonecutters of the local quarry

Click here to view the embedded video.

Photos by Christine Anne Piesyk

First Thursday Art Walk and Wine, hosted by the local businesses in the downtown area,will be held Thursday, August 5 from 5-8 p.m. Businesses stay open late, many host artists and have refreshments.

The Downtown Artists Co-op will host an art talk featuring Betty Liles and Nada Fuqua regarding their Retreat from the Heat show, now hanging at the Downtown Artists Cooperative. They will discuss techniques and inspiration for their paintings and style. Refreshments will be provided. Art talk is from 6 – 8 PM.

Jim Hancock’s photography exhibit is hanging at The Front Page Deli.

Judy Lewis will have her work hanging in Rogate’s Boutique. Judy is an extremely talented artist who recently returned to Clarksville. While she busily restores an older home, she makes time for her commission works of portraits and other studies.
Hodgepodge will continue to host Reisa Peters, with a smattering of Judy Lewis in the Garden Gallery. You’ll also find the amazing jewelry creations of Madge Patton. Madge is no stranger to Clarksville, having participated in several Rivers & Spires events. She started her artistic career in oils, moved to stained glass, and made a turn toward jewelry. She creates what is known at wrapped jewelry. She states, “My next passion turned to lapidary, taking the rough (gem stone rocks) slicing them, and cutting out a design, grinding and polishing into beautiful cabochons that I could wrap, or silversmith.”

Hodgepodge will host Madge for only one evening, so you need to need to get down here on Thursday.

The Roxy is currently hosting a show by Gail Meyers. Gail has several works related to downtown Clarksville, which are always big sellers. There will also be a performance of All Shook Up—call ahead for tickets because this show has been a regular sell-out.

We’re encouraging artists to contact Paige King (paige@hodgepodge-home.com) or Cliff Whitaker () to discuss displaying their work during our Art Walk events.

Natalie (Maria Maloney) falls instantly in love with Chad (Bryan Davis), who’s ridden into town a bold Red Harley.

It’s the third show I’ve seen in a year that has taken this route of mixing one singer or groups’ music and parlaying that playlist into a new form, integrating the music as part of the storyline. The film Across the Universe did a masterful job with the repertoire of the Beatles’, while the Mama Mia movie fared less well with its ABBA soundtrack. This live theatre production, All Shook Up, and this fabulous Roxy cast come out on the highest end of that scale.

• First, as we baby boomers know, you can’t go wrong with a good Elvis song.
• Second, this Roxy cast was perhaps its strongest ever ensemble of singers/dancers/actors/comics.
• Third, they had clever material and fine hand in direction and choreography.

The cast of “All Shook Up”

This is a strong show. It opens with a rousing rendition of Jailhouse Rock as the hero, Chad [Bryan Davis] is released from jail. Vibrant dancing, the bold costuming of jailhouse stripes, immediately caught audience attention and set the rock and roll pace for the rest of the story. The scene shifts from the jail to a small town diner and a rendition of Heartbreak Hotel, reflecting the restrictive morale standards and the human yearnings of people — young and old — who want to be loved.

Chad sings, and all Natalie can think of is “One Night With You…”

The arrival of the leather-clad Chad, the Elvis “roustabout,” immediately shakes the sleepy town, beginning with the young dusty, dirty, grease-covered mechanic, Natalie [Maria Maloney], who takes one look at the pelvis-twitching psuedo Elvis and burst into the song One Night With You, a tune that becomes a recurring theme and recurring gag throughout the show. While Natalie is instantly enamored with Chad, Dennis [De'Lon Grant] has been secretly nursing unrequited love for Natalie.

Davis had all the Elvis moves down pat: the hand slicking back the hair, the grinding pelvis in tight leather pants, the wild knock-knee’d rhythms that once upon a time had TV stations required to show Elvis only from the waist up. He exuded a swagger,a machismo, a leader of the pack attitude that set everything else in motion. Maloney, who will be joining the Roxy for the 08-09 season, was a revelation; this young actress exuded a wide array of emotions from innocence to passion to proverbial “double takes” with an animation that touched genius. We want to see more of her. Grant, in simply stepping on stage, immediately reminded me of a young, earnest and intense Sidney Poitier (yes, I am old enough to remember those early years of Poitier in film). The facial similarities include the intense expressions, the jut of his jawline, a commanding stance, the intensity in his eyes as he played out his lovestruck part panting after Natalie. I was dazzled by the impeccable comic timing in each of the cast members.

From left, Bradley Vile as Dean, Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva as Sylvia (back), Linda Ellis as the Mayor, Anthony Scarsella as Sheriff Earl, and Brendan Cataldo as the widower, Jim Haller

Rounding out the cast are Brendan Cataldo as Natalie’s widowed father, Jim; Bonnie Kramer spoofed the Marilyn Monroe-like Miss Sandra t the delight of the audience; Jennifer Whitcome-Oliva as Sylvia emerged with a powerful and poignant voice; Lea Anderson as the young Lorraine is proof that dynamite can come in small packages — petite in stature she has a powerhouse voice and vocal range that is staggering. Bradley Vile plays Dean Hyde, military school dropout looking for love. Anthony Scarsella is Sheriff Earl — yes, Sheriff Earl — who is primarily a strong silent presence who gets his chance to shine only as the play is winding to its conclusion. Linda Ellis is a hoot as the strict moral compass known as Mayor Matilda Hyde (Dean’s mother). The supporting cast/dancers are Beth Koperwhats, Harmony Livingston, Jacob Moyer Moats, Humberto Figueroa and Brinna Fuller.

Lorraine (Lea Anderson) gets a talking to from Sylvia (Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva)

The magic is in the integration of music comic timing. All Shook Up runs like a Shakespearean comedy, each character lusting after someone who doesn’t love them back. It is a comedy of errors and runs the gauntlet of pure slapstick at times, with “double takes” and recurring humor that builds upon itself akin to a snowball rolling downhill. The humor just keeps getting bigger and better. Insert into that equation the Presley songs and the energy explodes. The audience was top tapping, humming, even mouthing the lyrics to the familiar tunes.

The highlights in music include a Hound Dog/Teddy Bear medley that produced tears of laughter, and a stunning ensemble number Can’t Help Falling In Love With You.

Other Elvis songs include C’mon Everybody, Follow That Dream, Blue Suede Shoes (yes, the blue ’suede’ shoes were evident — everywhere), Don’t Be Cruel, the title song All Shook Up, A Little Less Conversation, Devil in Disguise, If I Can Dream, Fools Fall In Love, and Burning Love.

The orchestra backing up the performance was vibrant, rhythmic and perfectly moderated, never overpowering the singers. Musicians included Tom Thayer on piano, Jack Propps on Percussion, Tom Tapscott on reed, Thad Wallus on Bass and Brandon Wilson, guitar. John MacDonald directed. Choreography (which was impeccable) was designed by Tom Thayer, Bradley Vile, Harmony Livingston,and Michael Hartman.

This is one show you will want to see — more than once. The shows runs through August 23. For times and ticket information, call the Roxy Box office at 931-645-7699. Then put on your blue suede shoes and get ready to rock and roll.

Photos by Debbie Boen

Barry Kitterman: Editor, playwright, professor of literature and author of The Baker’s Boy

Always exposing Clarksville to creative writing through his classes at APSU and the visiting writers series is Barry Kitterman. He told us the background of and read a passage in his book, The Baker’s Boy. It is a story set in Belize where we explore the world of a school teacher Tanner Johnson, who is in the Peace Corp. Taking the first steps into the school Tanner saw two boys fighting and it wasn’t even breakfast yet. He sees a boy disciplined by being beaten with a rope. The 15 boys in his class are wild birds suddenly in a cage when they are indoors. Out doors they re-energized as if fingers were in sockets. Tanner is a man who is painfully aware of his personal limitations and who, in present time, is incapable of being very responsible because of the doubt in himself. This is his story of how the past follows him.

Barry’s poetry writing shapes his choice of words and one imagines a second meaning to many phrases. Each part of the story makes a vivid scene in my mind. Barry was in the Peace Corp in Belize. He taught at a school for children.

Barry said that what you may think is absolutely ridiculous in this story is probably completely true and what seems true is probably made up. This book was a ten year writing process. When asked if it has to be difficult to write a book, Barry said he believes that poets put a lot of thought into each word and that should be true of fiction writers too.

Barry admitted that part of the time working on a historical novel like this is sorting out the emotions and affect the experiences had on him. Also I found out that Barry’s main character does a lot of things that Barry never did. In the main character, Tanner, Barry is working out not only his experiences in Belize but why other people did what they did. He puts himself in their shoes.

Like the ghost that haunts main character Tanner, Barry’s well chosen words paint haunting images.

Besides teaching at APSU and having an active family life, Barry has hosted Bread and Words at APSU for 14 years running to raise money for Loaves and Fishes. He is a Blues musician and writer. He will be in the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville this October.

Sonny Brewer: Author of The Poet of Tolstoy Park and editor of Stories from the Blue Moon Cafe: An Anthology of Southern Writers.

Known to be quite a character and an easy talker (tells a two day story that could have been told in four hours), lively Sonny told us the story of how he fell into writing The Poet of Tolstoy Park. He became fascinated with a Henry Stewart, a man who died several years before Sonny was born. Sonny writes Henry’s story which starts when Henry is told by his doctor that he has a short time to live. Henry abandons wearing shoes and moves to warm Alabama. One thing he does there is build a round house out of cement blocks.

Sonny’s research of Henry Stewart gives up interesting and bizarre things about Henry. Sonny was able to lease the still existing round house so he could restore and study it. From newspaper articles, writings and dates of the cement blocks made by Henry, Sonny surmised that Henry had a major transformation (wake-up) which changed his life.

Listening to the story of how Sonny researched and wrote about Henry, one can’t help feeling they are made of similar stuff. Sonny sees the beauty in this human spirit who transformed religious studies to a love of nature. The book quotes Chief Seattle several times. He would have known about him, says Sonny, and he was a lover of Tolstoy, who was a fan of Henry George. You can google it, says Sonny to most questions. Sonny has had similar transformations in his life and people have even told him that maybe he is the reincarnation of Henry Stewart. Sonny won’t go that far but cannot explain his fascination with Henry’s life.“Takes one to recognize one”, I surmise.

In another session Sonny talked about a nonfiction book he wrote about his dog being lost. It was such an involved episode in his life that Sonny’s editor told him to write a book about it. Sonny says that writing nonfiction is more difficult than fiction and you still have to be careful about changing the names and such.

Sonny’s trouble these days is that his editor is waiting for him to “get to” his writing. Sonny’s editor is ready to promote a book that Sonny hasn’t written yet. Knowing that most writers are struggling to get noticed, Sonny knows he is living well. Having a deadline helps him get ‘er done. He tells us to believe in saying “I’m going to write a masterpiece and I’m going to do it in 6 weeks.” Just do it. On cue from his editor, he rewrote his Cormac book in a month. He got his start in writing when a college teacher told him that what he had written was sweetness and light. That convinced him to change his major to journalism. Getting together with other writers has fueled him tremendously. While speaking at lunch he said his writing group had just picked a better title to another book he is writing.

Suzanne Hudson: In the Dark of the Moon

Suzanne Hudson said she started writing books because Sonny bugged her into it. While at college together, she had won prizes for her writing including first place in a Hackney Literary award with 3,000 entries. Winning scared her out of writing and 30 years later Sonny talked her into writing again. Her books have a dark side, she said. She cannot write sweet stories, even when she tries. Her mom begged her to write a nice story and it started out that way, but then the dark side moved in. Coming from a profession of being a guidance counselor at a Middle School, Suzanne starts writing and the story takes over.

It sounded to me as if she asks a question of the character and the answers come to her. Suzanne has written In the Dark of the Moon (Secrets and Lies Exploring the Cross Generational Darkness) and In a Temple of Trees. She says her books are not for the faint hearted. There’s even (bad) language. In a Temple of Trees involves a boy witnessing a murder.

Most of her stories involve big secrets. We all have secrets Suzanne says. It’s a fun exercise to just start writing about that.

Suzanne’s secret now is that she hates to present her books to the public. It makes her very nervous. Though that may have been true for her, none of her audience suffered. We laughed with her and followed her every word.

Suzanne has another writing name of Ruby Pearl Sapphire. Ruby is everything free that I secretly want to be, says Suzanne. Ruby has a low brow humor and insists that she knows what is best for her and for us. Ruby plans on writing such books as a child raising book titled: If you Insist on Having Little Monsters, at Least Raise Them Like This. And Pros and Cons of Thongs. Suzanne Hudson is the author of In a Temple of Trees, In the Dark of the Moon, and Opposable Thumbs.

Tracy Barrett: Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators; author of nine plus books.

Tracy Barrett started us off with an energized talk about writing for young adults and children. She was prepared with handouts, rapid fire information, and list of frequently asked questions with answers about this avenue of writing. She has an intense love of history and has written fiction and nonfiction. The handout listed essential bookshelf books like Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market by Writers Digest. Everything she said was so useful so we listened intently and I wrote furiously.

Is it easy or difficult to get published in this area?  She said it’s not impossible but it’s difficult. Between five and six thousand books are published a year, no one can estimate how many submissions are sent in. Even so, don’t worry so much about that number because editors have good quick judgment to sort out the “bad” stuff. Editors read submissions looking for reasons to title you an amateur, throw your letter out and get on to the next one. So don’t give them a reason. For example, in a submission letter do not say your children or grandma liked your book. Unless you are an educator, editors do not want to hear who liked it and saying that screams amateur.

Do you need an agent in this field? In the adult market, yes, definitely, she said. Any time you have contract questions an agent is so helpful. Her agent got her bigger advances and percentage of book sales, so she was worth that 15%. Agents are also drowning in submissions but when your agent sends in a submission to an editor, that editor may feel that there is a reason to be more interested. Submissions without an agent are also accepted all the time.

Tracy said that editors cannot tell us exactly what they want, but they do know what they do not want. For the 2- to 5-year-old group books are usually 200-500 words. If you are not an author/illustrator do not, in your submission, suggest an illustrator. If your submission is accepted, then you can suggest to your editor someone you know. Editors have files of illustrators just waiting to be picked. You do not have to worry about or pick your own illustrator.

Do not do rhyming picture books unless they are perfect rhymes. Read them out loud to make sure it reads well. Have someone else read it and every place they stumble, circle that and change it.

Editors do not like talking animals unless there is a reason for it. Peter Rabbit, for example, has to be a rabbit. If it can be a child instead of an animal, then it should be.

No talking body parts. Tracy laughed at this one; she didn’t know why it was such a problem.

The Middle Grade readers have two levels: early readers and middle grade. Know your audience. Young adult age 12 to college is the biggest category and has the most readers. Fifteen-year-olds have dilemmas that don’t match 10-year-olds. Don’t talk down to them. You can stretch the vocabulary. There is no topic you cannot touch. Murder, abuse, anything that is life experience. Length can be 30,000 words or twice that.

Barrett suggests having a critique group; nothing beats it. Share chapters with each other and get honest opinions back. In this field is it best to query editors first before writing? Tracy’s answer was straight: Write the Damn Book (WTDB)

Tracy filled us up with valuable information. She is a dynamic writer and speaker and she balances her writing and teaching Italian at Vanderbilt University by leaving her work at work and keeping her office and home completely organized. She said she is not naturally neat but she has no choice. Here is a list of books she has published: Anna of Byzantium; The 100-Year-Old Secret (Book I of “The Sherlock Files”); The Ancient Chinese World; On Etruscan Time; Growing Up in Colonial America; Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky in the series Celebrate the States; The Trail of Tears: An American Tragedy; “The Children’s Crusade”; and Cold in Summer.

Tracy is Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and organizes their fall conference in Nashville (this September 20 and 21) and she hopes to see all of us there.

I was once told by a mentor that if I needed to learn something, I should go to the children’s section of the library and get a book on it there. Children’s books are written to be understood and applied to life. I have never had a disagreement with that.

Poet Leigh Anne Couch: Managing editor of The Sewanee Review and author of Houses Fly Away

It was said earlier that poets are the masters of words. Using the least amount possible they describe feelings in a most powerful way. That is certainly true of Leigh Anne Couch. Her words and images flowed like fondue chocolate.

In Beast, she describes the pretty bird in his mouth that he would like to let go, let tongue out of its cage.

In Nest she describes a woman in the hospital who is hiding. Her tests show nothing. Outside the window is a hornet’s nest, the color of something dying for years.

Opposite of Helium (for Milton the beloved dog)

…Love was a helium balloon, in a room with open windows.

Leigh Anne told us that she used to have a thesaurus next to her at all times, looking for better words to use. But she wrote awful poetry and now instead she uses a dictionary, looking up the meanings and roots of words and finding satisfaction in their use.

Palm Reader

…See the crows hammering inside her chest?

To Be Fire

…I wanted the stones to wear me like a blouse.

Camel Stamp

…This camel has a very long neck to feel the shiver of words for a very long time.

Blas Falconer: Creative writing teacher at APSU and author of The Perfect Hour and A Question of Gravity and Light

Blas had the chairs arranged in a square and asked each one of us why we were there. It immediately loosened us up. He gave us a handout of several types of poetry and we read each one. His point was that we don’t have to relate to or like every type of poem, but like looking at fine art, there is a style that we can relate to. And just like fine art where we don’t know the exact meaning that the artist is trying to convey, so it is with poetry. We did a writing exercise, taking a poem and changing the words to be our own. Blas does this type of writing when he hits a wall and can’t write anything.

He asked each of us what we thought of the poems that he handed out.

Rita Read, who taught English for 27 years, noticed that no matter what people said about the poems, Blas was sure to validate their opinion. He wasn’t threatened if someone didn’t like a poem. He maintained that they could find some poetry that they would like. Rita said that if she were a college student she would take his class. When you have a teacher who loves what they do, it makes you want to love it too.

Blas commented that a good poem is someone having an epiphany. If you know where you are going when you start out, then you’re probably not going to do well. He said to let your insides speak. The mind makes amazing leaps and associations when we don’t try to control it. Bernis Terhune gave us a chuckle when she said that in her writing group they try to make everything perfect, and it drives her crazy.