Helena, AR
Helena was chosen as the subject of the day by Matt Lee, an artist whose acquaitance I had made via the Wetcanvas online artist community. He also made arrangements for us to meet and paint with the curator of the Delta Cultural Center, Mr. Bill Branch. We arrived at 10AM and met at the DCC visitor center. Bill gave Matt and I a tour of their impressive facility. Not only were the interpretive exhibits of the history of the Blues and the delta top notch, there was also some fantastic art on display from Hearne Fine Art in Little Rock. After this, Bill gave us a tour of town. Helena straddles the very end of Crowley's Ridge. This landform is unique in North America, it a long ridge of fine soil that runs north-south from southern Missouri to the Missisippi River at Helena in the middle of the pancake flat Delta. When I was in high school, I went on a gifted and talented program which spent 4 weeks touring the entire state. At that time, the prevailing thought on the formation of Crowley's Ridge was that is was a deposit of windblown loess. That seems to be in doubt these days as some sources say it as fluvial in origin or possibly that it is rising due to tectonic forces. I still subscribe to what I learned many years ago, that it is windblown loess.
Helena is a far different place today than it was in 1941. Most of the industry is gone and Cherry Street (Helena has no Main Street) is populated with ghosts of the past. Empty store fronts are much more common than those with tenants. Still, there is something different to Helena than other towns with this same problem. There's a strong desire in Helena to rebuild the community. There are thriving churches downtown and more history than you can shake a stick at. Some of it is in sore disrepair but some of it is being restored. I would say that the source of this palpable energy is in large part due to the Delta Cultural Center. I feel that Helena is the front line of a decades long fight against the decay of small town America. It has had one of the steepest declines in population in the entire country. If this town can turn things around, then so can others. With it's rich history, I think they have a chance.
We started the painting for the day on a boardwalk by the river with the US 49 bridge providing a backdrop. The heat index was probably already well over 100°F. I set up in what was a smattering of shade that lasted about 15 minutes at best. We planned on working for about an hour and with that time constraint in mind, I chose a long-view that cropped out all the foreground. As the sun moved out from behind a few leaves and fell directly onto my palette, the paint began to slump and all but refused to stick on my simply prepared panels. I found myself wishing I used linen! I made do, however.
Matt's first of the day
Close up of Matt's first
Bill's first of the day
My first simple little painting of the day
Bill Branch's second of the day
Matt Lee Works on his 2nd of the Day
Gist Music
In all, I'm very happy with the day. I don't know if I've ever had time to even try to paint two paintings on location before in the same day, let alone make two that I would be willing to show! My camera has suddenly decided it's done with it's life. As soon as I get a new one, I'll post the cropped pictures of these completed pieces.
Thanks for the great post John...... next time let's bring a big water cooler like contractors use!
ReplyDeleteSo where's you next county for paintin'?
My pleasure Matt and thanks for a great location to paint! A BIG cooler is an excellent idea.
ReplyDeleteI did Faulkner county from photo reference last Friday night at an Art Walk. It still needs a bit of studio work. I also have photo refs of 4 or 5 others I want to finish up on. Next new plein air county location I think will be Monroe. The wife of the mayor of Clarendon has invited me out. They have a very nice old courthouse as well as a lot of the abandoned store front type stuff. How far would that be for you?
John - Thanks so much for this nice article! It's a history and geography lesson, a travel promotion, and a record of what crazy artists do outside on one of the hottest days of the year.
ReplyDeletePlease lets all get together again, there's lots more to paint in Helena!
Bill Branch
You're very welcome Bill. When I have good material to write about, entries like this are pretty easy! I'm definitely looking forward to getting back over that way. I'll certainly need to if we do King Biscuit Festival!
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteGood post here and a very interesting read. Out here, and growing up in Pasadena, CA, I can remember back in the early 80's we had a rock and roll radio station that on late Saturday or Sunday night would host the King Biscuit Flower Hour show which played rock and roll. This was actually a spin off of the King Biscuit Time show you had. The name came from the King Biscuit Flour company who sponsored the show you had....trivia, haha.
Really nice to see you guys out there painting it up. That must have been a lot of fun painting with friends and your version of the bridge came out great. Very cool.
Ron
Thanks Ron! In spite of the the heat, it was a very good day and there's so much there that sparks my interest, I can't wait to get back! I'm starting to think about a bigger version of that bridge painting...
ReplyDelete