A couple of weeks ago, a friend asked me to make a drawing of a home that he and some others are renovating in my neighborhood.

He wanted me to base it off of the series I did where I imagined what old dilapidated buildings might be thinking.

Cal Johnson Building Talking

He was also inspired by this sign that he saw in a historic building's window once.

Here are the final two results, the first drawn free-hand with graphite and the second traced/free-hand in ink with trees and shrubs added. They are going to use the drawings for promotional purposes- flyers and hopefully a t-shirt (fingers crossed!).

Let me know if you want one done of your home or historic building. I want to make more.

I've been looking for a location to sell my mason jar paintings permanently in Knoxville and just found out last week it will be the Knoxville Visitor Center!

I dropped some off last week and they're all ready on display. I'm happy that these paintings finally have a physical home and that this home happens to be visited by thousands of tourists monthly. It's also the location of WDVX and the Blue Plate Special, so there's a lot to be excited about. 

Below are the most recent ones I've painted which I dropped off last week. They're a steal at $35 a piece.

Also, the Visitor Center asked me to be their First Friday artist this Friday. I'll be there from 5-8pm so please come see me.

The Mason Jar Series

by Beth Meadows

Friday, November 2, 2012

5-8pm

at the Knoxville Visitor Center

301 South Gay Street

Downtown Knoxville, TN 37902

As always, you can purchase paintings from this series on my Etsy Shop, too, and in case you want to know more about them...

The Mason Jar Series features acrylic paintings on salvaged slate roof tile by Knoxville artist Beth Meadows. The tiles are from the Architectural Salvage Program Beth manages for Knox Heritage, a non-profit that advocates for historic preservation in East Tennessee. The Salvage Program accepts donated historic building materials and, in turn, raises money by selling these items to people renovating historic properties or those with a vision to create something new.
The Mason Jar Series functions on two main levels: to recycle salvaged building materials and to promote historic preservation through its subject matter. The slate roof tiles used are from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in South Knoxville, designed in 1961 by architects Barber and McMurray. A portion of proceeds goes to Knox Heritage as well as Gloria Dei.

I've listed a ton of mason jar paintings on Etsy. Please take a gander and make sure you pick out your favorite before it's gone!

Introducing mason jar paintings on slate roof tiles. 

Available now on my Etsy Shop and at Bliss Home in Knoxville, TN during September.

I've talked a lot this year about my desire to collaborate more.

We have a new artist at 17th Street Studios named Dean Yasko who has taken one of my old drawings from this show and added his own flair. And now he's going to talk about it...

"My most recent work has been inspired by collaboration and spontaneity so I decided to try and "stay in the lines" and add some color to this fantastic drawing. When you were a kid, did you ever do that thing where you use a bunch of different colors of crayons to color in a piece of poster board, cover it with black tempera paint, and then scratch a design into it? When Beth gave me this drawing to contribute to the collaboration, the first thing I noticed was that the print was black with white lines. I knew that I wanted to add color but I wasn't sure how. After some deliberation, I came across a childhood drawing using the method described above and decided that it would be fun to try to simulate this technique.

Thanks for checkin out our drawing. If you would like to see more of my work go to www.deanyasko.com"

Last week was the East Tennessee Community Design Center's 100 Block Party Fundraiser.

I donated the piece above to their auction. It's a photograph of the former Flynn Paint Building, located on the corner of Summit Hill and 11th Street, in a window from Knox Heritage Salvage.

I used to be obsessed with this building. Obsessed is an understatement. I'd drive out of my way to pass it, daydream about owning it. I wrote business plans for how I'd use it and contacted the owner to see if he'd sell it.

But I had no money to offer him. It sat for a few years until he converted it into a bar. And he desecrated the building in the process. I lament the way it looks now. People say, "At least it's saved." They don't understand. I was in love.

I've made several pieces about it since then. A muse never dies even when it dies.

Here are some more detailed shots of the Letter-Writing Boxes I made for the Salvage Show (see post below).

It's been a while since the Salvage Show, but I never shared my final pieces.

Last year for the same exhibition, I had wanted to make a bunch of boxes out of salvaged wood, paint parts of them, and display them in a big heap on the floor.

Then I realized how time consuming making one box is (and how I like the idea of building, but not the reality of it); I only made one for last year's show.

This year, I wanted to veer from the same idea. I still wanted to make boxes, but I wanted them to have more significance.

I've been writing letters lately and aspire to write more, so I decided to make my boxes about that very thing.

I made five boxes out of old bead board. I painted them different color schemes I enjoy- gold and black, maroon and red, red and black, etc. I sanded one and didn't paint it at all. I didn't add lids or covers to them. I like how the bead board has slits in the edges to that you can place papers in them. I wanted the contents of the boxes to be exposed, to remind the owner not to neglect its contents. They are boxes made for pencils, envelopes, stationery, letters from friends and family...

Here is my artist statement from the show:

“Sometimes when I put things in drawers and boxes in an effort to be more organized, I tend to forget all about them (until I move). I designed these boxes out of salvaged beadboard to display stationery I’ve been collecting and (my long lost friends) No. 2 pencils. My motive is to entice myself (& you) to write a faraway friend a letter. I want to honor this lost but magical form of communication, just as I wanted to give this wood a new beginning.”