February bits of information!

Today was one of the best days of the year thus far. The weather was perfect to attend a walk on the Beltline Project in Atlanta GA. For those of you who haven't heard yet, Atlanta will be opening up a new pedestrian trail, light transit and art corridor starting this summer. It's been a dream which has been on the drawing board for quite some time now and yes it will finally start becoming a reality starting June 5th of 2010. I for some odd reason I have lived no more than 50 feet away from the project since moving into the city 5 years ago. So as you might imagine I'm excited by the possibility of accessing such an available resource. You should as well, since this corridor goes through almost 50 different neighborhoods and is totally level with no hills up or down. When completed I'll be able to walk to Piedmont part in about an hour at a liesurely pace. The complete loop is 22 miles total and stretches from Lindberg Station on the north end down to just outside my front door (literally) at the corner of Allene Ave. and Avon Avenue in south Atlanta.


South of City Hall East along the soon to open Beltline.




Looking Down North Avenue toward BofA building.


Lofts along Ponce de Leon Ave.


View of Midtown behind Trader Joes on Monroe Ave.

For much more information and ways to get involved please go to www.beltline.org. How will this effect my personal little economy? Well, I am getting involved in the opening of the project by submitting a proposal for an arts project along the walking paths.



I've been working toward creating public art projects for the past 5 years and this will give me a fair chance at having one funded. I'm a painter as most of you know and would love to create a mural to install. Public art has its problems though such as vandalism so I personally would be nervous about creating something as fragile as a painted surface. My solution is to propose a mural made of ceramic tiles. Please see the sample of my concept tile above to get a feel for what I'm proposing. The final size would be somewhere in the area of 6' X 25' and be made of 12" square tiles. It would be more durable in the long run and could be cleaned if tagged. I'm also thinking there are 3 more supports that could use some art on them as well, possibly later as the project develops. I have also asked Jack Meachum to help me on the mural project as he has the sculpting and drawing skills required for this project and it may be too big for me to produce by myself.

This is a sketch of my friend Jack Meachum who sat for me last night after we went to the movie Crazy Heart with Jeff Bridges, Robert Duval and other great actors in what has to be a heavy contender for an Oscar. If you get a chance, go see it. It's money well spent.


Beyond that I've been busy with several opportunities and fine art projects. There will be a show of artwork created entirely with graphite to be held at the Rose Lane Gallery in Decatur GA. The show will open in March.

Irenka, one of the many wonderful models now working in the Atlanta area. The model list has gotten much longer from when I came to Atlanta 22 years ago. A sign that the art community is growing and evolving to a much better place.

Peonies, this is a graphite drawing of a vase and flowers around my loft. I've adopted peonies as one of my favorite flowers because of their beauty as well as rarity. They are only available in early spring which gives me another reason to hope for a change in the seasons till I can see them bloom again. It's kind of a promise of a new beginning!

The Bond, Someone asked me to come up with a wedding gift for a couple they know and this is a concept I developed. Taking two different people, represented by the glasses of wine, one red one white and tying them together to create something sweeter and more lasting than themselves alone. A bit sentimental I suppose, but I'm a romantic and I don't apologize for that.



Speaking of romance, "The Muse" is on display in a show at the Atlanta Artists Center and has taken an honorable mention. The model (Irenka) sat at my friends Shane McDonalds studio for this quick little study. I was quite happy with the result.

I've also taken on a portrait commission for the Arts for the Heart project sponsored by the Atlanta Fine Arts League. The project provides portraits of American Servicemen and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'll update you as these projects progress. Thanks again for your interest and pass my blog address along to other art lovers, creators and patrons.

Blessings!
Chazz