So I've been in Georgia a while now. There's a lot of history here, and I love learning about it. I also think the state has some beautiful landscapes. Pair that with my nerdy love of maps and here we are. I just finished up a series of three pieces that are a bit of a departure from my past works. They were made by attaching old maps of Georgia to heavy duty art paper, upon which the image was painted/ drawn using acrylic, oil pastels, and colored pencil. The art was then glued...and nailed... onto a backing of salvaged wood.

Each map of Georgia I used is different. They're original maps, but not all that old- I think one is about 30 years old maybe? I used the maps to help me decide on the titles, but also thought about how the images felt. So, here's a bit of backstory on each title:

 "Homestead on Ceded Land"

 by Charles Shipp, 2018 

This cabin seemed welcoming and inviting, and it made me think of someone coming home from a long day's work. The map in this one seems to highlight the natural elements - forests, lakes, rivers, etc. So I was thinking about the land and settling on it, and how we use it. 

The "ceded" part refers to the state's early history. Most of north Georgia was quickly "acquired" by the United States from the Cherokee and other native nations once gold was discovered in the area. One could write a book (and I'm sure they have) about all the shady deals and underhanded agreements that ultimately led to the trail of tears, which began close to where i'm currently living in Cherokee County. Before all that new land was divided up, named, and settled by the newcomers, the area was simply referred to as "ceded lands". 

"The Hope of M.F. Stephenson"
by Charles Shipp, 2018 

The Georgia gold rush (1828-1840's) brought a lot of settlers to north Georgia. Many fortunes were mode during those years. Whole towns sprang up overnight, and thrived for a number of years.

The Georgia Gold Rush ultimately began to decline when gold became more difficult to extract, and was properly squelched when gold was discovered in California. Miners left the state by the hundreds to go west in search of riches. M. F. Stephenson was the assayer at the Dahlonega Mint and a self-made mineralogy and geology expert.  Supposedly, he made a desperate plea during those times in hopes to keep the miners here- "Why go to California? In that ridge lies more gold than man ever dreamt of. There’s millions in it.” That plea, which has gone down in history (see also: "There’s gold in them thar hills"), ultimately failed to keep the gold economy moving. Some managed to continue to remove gold from them hills, but most never struck it rich. Whole towns were abandoned, but you can still visit a few remnants of America's first gold rush if you know where to look. (I actually found the remains of a cluster of mines in some woods near Lake Allatoona- took a lot of research and about 6 hours of hiking back and forth through the woods, but it was really cool once i figured out that i was in the right spot.)

 

This house felt kind of lonely once i finished it. Almost abandoned. These days, fortunes are made other ways in this region, as evidenced by the sprawling, yet unfinished, interstate system on the map. But as before, not all share in that success. But I suppose there's always hope.

"Divisions on the Land: One Day By Horse"

by Charles Shipp, 2018 

As Georgia grew and developed as a state, one interesting thing that has developed is the county system. The state has more counties (159) than any state except Texas (254). Interesting side note- the state of Delaware has the fewest counties (3), and counties in Rhode Island have no actual government function. 

 

Georgia has lots of counties. You can see them pretty well on this map, and you can see that they're all fairly similar in size, or at least they were at one point. This is due to a number of reasons, but some sources note that the original intent was for all residents to be within a day's ride on horseback (round trip) of their county courthouse. I've also heard that the circuit court system, which required judges to travel from county to county (on horseback), influenced the map as well. There are lots of other factors as well, but I just like the idea of a map being dictated by the length of a horse ride. I found myself thinking about a settler, or a miner, or a sharecropper, walking out of a house not too different from the one I drew in the image above, climbing up on their horse, and riding all morning to get to the courthouse. 

 

Regardless of the reasons, Georgia now has an absolutely amazing collection of counties, which hold some beautiful old courthouses. And if you look around, you can find a few small cabins left over from the days when there weren't as many divisions, and this land was a very different place.  

 

 

Going Back to Church

“Tennessee Chapel” was one of the first pieces I did, it’s the first piece I ever sold, and I really like it. I like it so much, in fact, I decided to do another one.

At first glance, it’s very similar to the first, but I made some important changes.

This time, I included open doors, lights on inside, and steps leading to the church.

As I was doing this I was thinking about choices. We all make choices everyday, but I was specifically thinking about choices related to going to church, to God, and to religion.

As a youth leader, these choices have become very important to me, and I find myself thinking about them more than I’d care to admit, especially when people don’t go to church for one reason or another. Do people actively choose not to go to church? Do they just not go because it’s easier to keep doing whatever they’re doing? Do they think other things are more important? Than community? Than worship? Or do they just think that if they keep walking they’ll find something better? I have seen the overall trend in our society away from church and religion in general, and that plays into this a little too. I think I subconsciously had the road veer away from the chapel rather than leading to it, but that’s me reading more into the drawing after the fact.

I made sure to have the doors open and lights on this time when I drew the little chapel. The door is always open. Maybe not the physical doors or the physical church, but you know what I mean. Leaving a church unlocked all the time in Atlanta would be all kinds of irresponsible, but dang, that would be cool if we could. (If you have never listened to Keb’ Mo’s song“The Door”, go check it out- great song.)

Anyway, you can keep walking down the road, you can turn and walk up the slightly more difficult hill to the church/ religion/God/whatever, or maybe you walk on, turn around, and come back later. The doors will still be open. That’s the key. No matter what you choose- the church is still there. God is still there. It’s up to each of us to walk up the hill and make the choice.

Now, as I’ve always said, art is as much about the viewer as it is about the artist, and this is just what I was thinking as I made it. It’s up to you what you get from it. If you like it, check out my other stuff at www.charlesmakesart.com

Peace,

Charles

Failed Negativity

Ever try to do one thing, and end up doing the opposite?

I started working on a piece that was supposed to be centered around the Church's struggle against the forces which would see it perish. A visual representation of all that detracts from our faith, worship, life in community, and belief system closing in on a powerless and ever shrinking church. Weakness. Smallness. Powerlessness.

At least, that was my intent.

As I have found time and time again, the Holy Spirit has a way of messing with us. As I began to put some color on this thing, it kept looking, well, not negative. It felt powerful. It felt optimistic. As much as I tried to get my point across, it wasn't gonna happen. Another point was being made.

Resistance. Faith. Hope. Strength. That tiny little church began to push back the mountains and offer a sense of hope and sure ground. That tiny little church began to look a bit like the Israelites passing confidently along the seafloor with towering waves in every direction. It began to look like everything I love about the Church.

I like that better than my idea, anyway.

See more stuff at www.charlesmakesart.com

Back to the Drawing Board

So, it's been a while since I posted anything. I had back surgery in January, and the months leading up to that, as well as the month after, were a major creativity suck. I was on all kinds of pain meds that I had hoped would lead to some whacked out crazy artwork, but instead just left me totally unmotivated to do anything.

It's amazing how being partially disabled for a period of time can change your perspective. Now that I have experienced what it's like to not even be able to tie your own shoes or pick up a gallon of milk, I feel like I'm seeing the little things in life for the gift they are. Living without pain, and without pain meds, is an experience I had almost forgotten in just four short months. I had accepted the dull pain, the foggy haze I lived in as a result of whatever pain pill I was taking that month, and the total lack of energy. I tried to get back to my artwork a few times throughout the fall, but each time I got halfway through a pencil sketch and quit- either because of the pain of sitting still for that long, or because I hated what I was drawing. Or because I just didn't care enough to keep going.

I am happy to say that's behind me, now. Hooray for modern medicine and awesome surgeons. I can tie my own shoes again. I can walk again. I can sneeze without screaming in pain. I can run, and pour my own milk, and I can sit down at my drawing table and finally create some new stuff.

So I sat down and started drawing this week- the first time in months. This is what came out.

I like 'em, so I'm doing a whole series. They're scenes inspired by the Mississippi Delta Region- the birthplace of the blues, and home to some really good catfish joints.

I have always been fascinated by this place. It used to be an ecosystem more bio-diverse than the Amazon rainforest. It was an alluvial swampland sandwiched between the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, teeming with life. Then came the humans. We built levees, drained it, leveled it, and created this. This strange, flat, haunting landscape. It was the world's largest cotton producing region for a time. It gave us some of the greatest food and some of the greatest musicians the world has ever known.

Today, while still a very active agricultural region, it's strangely devoid of people. Yes there are people, wonderful people, who live there- just not as many. The result of mechanization and industrial farming- less people, less paychecks. So now there are lots of empty roads, empty buildings, even a few empty towns.

For a guy who loves rust and junk and abandoned things, it's a playground of beauty and mystery. What used to be in there? Who used to work here? (For some incredible photographs of the area, check out the book Delta Land by Maude Schuyler Clay.) It's a strange place that seems to resist any attempt to capture it on paper. I have been trying to draw this area for over a year, with no luck. I think I'm getting closer, though. Tentatively calling them "Sundown on 61". Hope you like 'em.

See more stuff at www.charlesmakesart.com

A Little History

Some of you are probably wondering who I am and how I got here. Well, maybe not, but I’m gonna tell y’all anyway. 

Once upon a time, there was a little boy who loved to draw. His name was me. I drew all the time when I was little. I’ve had a sketchbook since I can remember. I remember sitting in my little desk, doodling and drawing while my dad watched the news. I loved to draw trees. I remember trying to draw every single individual leaf, then getting tired of it halfway through the tree and scribbling in the rest.

One of those early trees. I think I was about 9 years old when I did this.

My whole family is artistic. My mom was an art teacher at one point, worked in advertizing, and also did floral design. My dad is an amazing architect and designer. I remember my grandmother always getting into some new craft every few months- painting, stained glass, basket making, ceramics, sewing, whatever. And my sister also has some amazing art skills and dabbled in a few art-related jobs before entering seminary.

Which brings me to the other thing about my family- they are the reason I am the God-lovin’, church-workin’, Jesus freak I am today. I can attribute some aspect of my faith to every member of my family. They each helped make me who I am today and for that I will always be grateful.

So, anyway, I started taking art classes in high school. Learned a little about painting, took some B&W photography classes in school using my grandfather’s camera, and learned as much from my mentor/mother as I could. She jumped on any opportunity she got to teach me some new painting technique or drawing trick.

A high school sketch of the late, great Rufus Thomas.

I decided to major in Landscape Architecture when I went to college. That meant actually getting accepted to Auburn University’s College of Architecture Design and Construction. Which meant lots of art and design classes.

College sketchbook from study abroad in Rome. View of a nearby church from our apartment.

I got pretty good at drawing buildings and trees. I took design classes, watercolor classes, drawing classes, and got into digital design and graphics work too. 

Another (odd) college sketchbook page. Look, another tree.

Graphic design became a side hobby. I started designing brochures, t-shirts, posters, and fliers for various organizations I was involved with, and had a lot of fun with it. I still do, actually. My roommate and I designed and sold t-shirts for a while, which was super fun. Ok, well, we designed two shirts. I think we sold about ten of them. But they were awesome, and it was fun. We even had our own little tag we put on each shirt.

I graduated from Auburn with a Master of Landscape Architecture and a Master of Community Planning in 2006.

Some illustrations from my thesis project.

I went to work at a design firm in Atlanta doing landscape architecture, community planning and urban design. Most of the projects I worked on were new developments and urban infill projects in the Atlanta area and throughout the southeast. That job was extremely rewarding and I was able to learn a lot about illustration and rendering form some extremely talented professionals.

In my free time, I was doing a lot of photography. My then-soon-to-be-wife and I would go out for days at a time and just take photos. I also got into painting for a while. I enjoyed it, but only completed about one or two paintings a year- mostly because I didn’t have a place to paint and make a mess that wouldn’t jeopardize an apartment security deposit.  

Painting of St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church in Auburn.

I got married in 2009 and soon after changed fields, going to work for the church full time as Youth Ministries Director. I’ve gotten to use my graphic design education a lot in publications, and I started working with oil pastels about a year ago. They have since become my medium of choice. I’m now doing oil pastel pieces almost exclusively, though I still break out the paints on occasion, and I still love going out and doing photography with my wife when we have free time.

St. Anne's Episcopal Church, Atlanta, where I work these days.

I love making these pieces. It’s relaxing. Sometimes I’ll work one for weeks at a time, and others will be completed in just a few hours one night after a long day at work.  Sometimes I’ll have an idea in my head of what I want to draw before I sit down, and sometimes I just start scribbling and see what comes out. But I enjoy making them, and now I’m putting them out there for others to enjoy, too.

So that’s a little about how I got to where I am today. 

Go check out my website at www.charlesmakesart.com

New Pieces

Here are a few things I made a few days ago. I've been working on some smaller pieces- the first one is 7"x7". and the three trees are each 3"x7". 

The house was inspired by a place I stopped while driving through the Mississippi Delta a few years ago. There was the beautiful little house surrounded by fields on all sides. For some reason it grabbed my attention, so I pulled over and took some photos (the house was abandoned, so I was able to walk around and not get chased off with a shotgun.)

The trees were just a study looking at how the same basic subject can look and feel totally different based on the light that's hitting it or the time of day. I'm going to do some more of these 'cause I think they're fun and simple. No deep, philosophical meaning behind them- just trees, because... trees.

Blogging and Socializing and Drawing

So, I have a blog now.

charlesmakesart.blogspot.com

I gotta admit, kinda proud of myself. Yes, I'm a little late to the party, but better late than never, I guess. I've also been doing a lot of drawing lately. And I've been makin' a website. I'm not quite sure what all I'll end up posting here. Guess we will find out together. Peace.