The Art of Gary Bowling

"History of West Virginia" By Gary Bowling
(Image from Tamarack)

Growing up in Bluefield, there was always one local artist who I was delighted to come across - I remember him speaking at my elementary school to a rapt audience and staring for hours at a t-shirt featuring one of his works on it. His name is Gary Bowling, and I found myself thinking about him the other day.

The reason I found myself thinking of Mr. Bowling lay is a little complicated. I was sitting in my favorite chair, a pile of art history books on my lap, looking for inspiration for my own work. Well, eventually I come to my two volumes on the work on the late, great Keith Haring. I flip through the images, always with my mouth a little agape, and the phone rings - it is a buddy of mine from Bluefield, asking what I'm doing. I tell him I'm looking at a collection of Keith Haring paintings - he doesn't know who that is, so I start trying to describe his work.

"Um, it is like pop art versions of hieroglyphics or cave art - you know, very symbolist and imagistic, bold lines, like cartoony religious icons."

"I'll take your word."

He didn't get it, and I paused, thought, and then (essentially yelling in the phone), "DUDE, you remember Garyglyphics, right? Like that, sorta'." My buddy understood what I was talking about then, by cracky.

Okay, Gary Bowling does not = Keith Haring. His work is very different, very unique, but it has that same drama of figure and icon - his work both makes fun of and delights in the hyper-stylized. I can't tell you the hours I spent as a kid emulating him, and though it has been years since I've seen his work in person I still can see elements of his influence in my own work, unconsciously trickling out of my pen and ink. Ah, but you aren't interested in all that. So on to the links and with them, the images. Enjoy - I know you will.

First - YouTube. That is correct - there are two Bowling-related links - first, one of his Garyglyphic lectures (this one on the rise of the monotheistic religions, entitled "So It Was Written" - absolutely true, as you can tell from the part about Protestants and BBQ), and second a collection of images from Mr. Bowling's home during a Christmas party - you'll see a lot of his work therein, and you really get a sense of the fun he has with his art.

Also, as for samples of work, check out the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts website - he designed their 2000 poster, as well as his page on the get sm'ART (I think that is the right way to write it) page - there are only a few works, but they're worth a look, especially (in my opinion) the "Paper Doll" series. Oh yeah - and if you're interested in one of his tees (I'm thinking of getting one myself, actually), check him out at the Tamarack site ($15 ain't bad for a nice shirt, these days).

And Gary, if you post some more art online, let us know - I'd love to post some more links. Support local art.

News

I just thought I'd post a couple of the more interesting stories I've found from the region - just dropping it like its hot. Bam.

Associated Press/Breitbart.com: "Bah-humbug! Tennessee Christmas tree farm finds tops chopped off large firs"

The Athens News: "What Can Athens Learn From Cleveland About Self-Promotion?"

Bluefield Daily Telegraph: "City Board Considers Vacant Building Ordinance"

The Charleston Gazette: "Manchin joins Massey, industry in mine ruling appeal"

Forbes: "Mountaintop Removal Permit Challenged"

HuntingtonNews.net: Good News: "Fenton Glass Lives On...For Now at Least"

The Parthenon: "Faculty Research on Appalachia Goes Beyond MU Campus"

The Tennesseean: "UT-Knoxville Receives Green Award"

WKYT-WYMT: "Beshear, Manchin Offer Proposal In Nurses' Strike"

Ah, Mitchell Stadium

Mitchell Stadium

Bluefield, West Virginia

(Image from VirginiaPreps.com)

Listen up chiefs - I have another update for you kids on my hometown of Bluefield (West Virginia and Virginia), or more specifically, on one of Bluefield's greatest landmarks, the relatively reknowned Mitchell Stadium. Ahh.

The fact of the matter is that Mitchell Stadium, built back in Bluefield's hayday (well before Old King Coal died, so to speak) has aged pretty damned well. That said, some serious renovations are going on in the old house right now, to be finished in time for Friday, August 24th's high school kick-off, the granddaddy of 'm all, the Graham-Bluefield game (aka the Bluefield-Graham game). This decades old rivalry between the West Virginian and Virginian denizens of the East River Valley, should be even more visually stimulating than ever before. Why? Well, there is the new Shott Field, an artificial turf field, is incredibly cool-looking, emblazoned as it is with both a portrait of the two Virginias at mid-field as well as the tactfully neutral maroon and white "Bluefield" written at both ends of the field (maroon, for those of you know, is a major color for both the Graham G-Men and the Bluefield Beavers, and white is found in the uniforms of both, traditionally as piping and stripes for Graham and as stripes and stars for Bluefield). Furthermore, the rear of the stadium, opposite the main gates, has been improved with beautiful native stone walls (Bluefield and our neighbors, such as Bramwell and Tazewell, are mildly well known for our native stone buildings and walls) in the old, glory-days Bluefield style, and though I didn't see it, a blue vinyl fence is going to be installed around the field itself. There are also rumors that new gates will be installed at the front gates of the field (I've heard they're going to be blue, but I haven't seen any confirmation of that yet) as well as, and get this, a jumbotron (again, I have read plenty of rumors but haven't seen anything definitive).

Yeah. All this for a high school football stadium in the dead center of Appalachia. Eat your heart out Texas (just kidding - I don't want to get into that spitting contest).

Okay, I know this may not be huge news for everyone, but today, while I was in town for a baseball game (after a bachelor party with no less than 10 preachers - don't ask), on the recommendation of my friend Catfish, I drove up on the mountain above the stadium - sadly I didn't have a camera with me, but wow, I was impressed. I felt compelled to throw this out there on the old internet. So, after my brief ramblings, I want to share some links I've found on old Mitchell, its renovations, and of course, a couple on the Beaver-Graham game. I'll be there, by the way (assuming Sarah and I can get away from Knoxvegas), and I hope you can be too - it is an experience that rivals the finest college experiences - you're just going to have to trust me.

Presto:

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: "Dirt churned at Mitchell Stadium"

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph: "On schedule: Mitchell expected to be ready for 'The Game'"

cougarfootball.net: "Welcome to the Big Time, Pulaski County Cougars!
PC defeats Graham in preseason action"

VirginiaPreps.com: "Mitchell Stadium: New and Improved"

WVRSN: "Be a Good Sport, Charleston"

Postcards from the Mountains

Frankfort, Kentucky
(ePodunk)

King College
Bristol, Tennessee
(Penny Postcards from Bristol and
Kingsport, Tennessee - USGenWeb Archives)

Johnson City, Tennessee
(Johnson's Depot)

Chattanooga, Tennessee
(University of Tennessee, Chattanooga; Lupton Library -
"Early 20th Century Chattanooga Postcards)

University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
(Penny Postcards from Charlottesville, Virginia - USGenWeb Archives)

Franklin, North Carolina
(Postcards of Western North Carolina)

Wheeling, West Virginia
(Wheeling National Heritage Area)

Blowing Rock
Avery County, North Carolina
(Boone Historic Archives)

Grandfather Mountain
Avery County, North Carolina
(Penny Postcards from North Carolina - USGenWeb Archives)

Hollins University
Roanoke, Virginia
(Penny Postcards from Virginia - USGenWeb Archives)

The University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
(ePodunk)

Johnson City, Tennessee
(Vintage East Tennessee Postcards)

Chattanooga, Tennessee
(CardCow.com)

Knoxville, Tennessee
(Penny Postcards from Tennessee - USGenWeb Archives)

Ashland, Kentucky
(CardCow.com)

West Virginia University
Morgantown, West Virginia
(wvpics.com)

Bluefield, West Virginia

(CardCow.com)

Charleston, West Virginia
(Penny Postcards from West Virginia; USGenWeb Archives)

Davis & Elkins College
Elkins, West Virginia
(ePodunk)

Note: Many, though not all, of the websites on this page have original postcards for sale - this is their operator's livelihood. I recommend that, if you enjoy the cards on display here it is worth considering a purchase. Thanks for your services, folks.

The Bluefield Orioles

Bowen Field
(Image from BallParkReviews.com, which is worth a visit)

Summer is here. For some this means more light, higher temperatures, barbecues and short-clothes. But I am a Bluefielder, and so summer is more complicated. Of course, summer is when the chicory-season starts, when our flower opens its face until autumn becomes just too damn much and it furls its standard against the intrusions of snow and frost. Summer is lemonade season for the Bluefielder, the time when children pray for it to reach 90 degrees, those one or two days a year when Bluefield isn't air-conditioned by the Deity, those one or two days a year when cheerleaders line the streets and parking lots of one town in two states distributing water teased with lemon juice and sugar to all comers, a secular communion. The backwards Dairy Queen (down on the Avenue) is open in the summer in Bluefield, forcing passengers to act as diplomats between drivers and cashiers. And summer is when Bluefield becomes a baseball town, a place for 18-year-old boys from around the Union and, more recently, the Western Hemisphere, to come and play a game against other 18-year-olds. For fun.

I miss Bluefield.

All that said, I write this entry to tell you good people who are not from Bluefield-on-the-Mountain about a special thing happening in my hometown, an anniversary. No, no, not the anniversary of the marriage of the two Bluefields - Graham, Virginia to Bluefield, West Virginia (Graham took Bluefield's name), though that would be a good topic of conversation. No, this is a different anniversary - a 50 year anniversary between the two Bluefields' and a baseball team in Maryland named after a bird that look like Halloween (flying) and build nests that look like pockets.

This is important - it is the oldest relationship between a major league team and a farm affiliate - ever. For fifty years Bluefielders have been Orioles fans, watching their storied Baby Birds, glorying in the ancient art of divination (which 18-year-old playing a game will go to the major leagues? which will be a Hall-of-Famer?). My grandfather had season tickets at Bowen Field. My father played baseball there - it is why he came to Bluefield, how he met my Mother (God rest her) - playing with some of the most storied players of Oriole fame (e.g. Eddie Murray and Mike Flanigan). I watched more than 20 seasons there, just below the press box (except in high school, when I would flirt in the upper decks). The last place I spoke to my friend Brad (God rest him) was there, in the grandstands, as we sat and talked about our plans at the last game of summer (and the only day game of the year), a late August afternoon with near-empty stands three hours before the Graham/Beaver football game a few hundred yards away. Men and women have been born, grown, had families, and died watching baseball in that place.

I love Bowen Field, because for me, it is an embodiment of all that is good with Bluefield, with baseball, and yes, I'll be cliche, with America. There in Bowen Field, where the legendary Oriole Way still reigns, there are rules. There is order. The grass, the dirt, the chalk lines, the wind, the fans, the orange paint, the sound of a ball in leather or against ash, it is all good. I pray, literally, that Bluefield and the Orioles have many, many more anniversaries because I don't believe that Bluefield would be the same place without the O's - and I doubt that the Orioles will still be striving for the Oriole way if they have decided to pull up posts here, and baseball will be much the worse for it.

I ramble. Apologies - I just wanted to write some thoughts on Bluefield and the Bluefield Orioles, and I have. I'm adding some links below - if you don't know much about the Baby Birds, they warrant a little attention. And if you do, well, hopefully I'll see you in couple of weeks.

The Bluefield Orioles (home page)

• "50th Anniversary Celebration"

Selected Ballparks of the Appalachian League (Bowen Field)

Wikipedia ("Bluefield Orioles")

Our Sports Central ("Bluefield Orioles")

The Bluefield Daily Telegraph ("Fans invited to fill photo gaps in Orioles' history")

• "50th year of Orioles' baseball to be McGonagle's last"
  

The Baltimore Sun ("Out of the Blue")

And please, support minor league baseball.

The Blog I So Desperately Wish I Had Thought Of Creating Myself & Demand That Everyone On Earth Add to Their Favorites List

Griffith & Feil Pharmacy in Kenova, West Virginia
(Image from the West Virginia Hot Dog Blog, which gave
Griffith & Feil a ranking of four and 1/2 Weenies)

I have reviewed a lot of blogs in my day. Some of them are touching, some of them enlightening, some of them flat out funny, and some of the absurdly useful. I don't usually review political blogs, though I do read several, mainly because, being a moderate (socially libertarian, internationally a classical realist of a Machiavellian/Hobbesian bent, domestically a pragmatic Smithian, and environmentally just right of the greens, but from a security perspective, influenced largely by Malthus and, here's the kicker, Nixon) and a political scientist I feel such an urge to deal with issues in all their historical, economic, political, and social complexity that it makes either for horrible posts or for convoluted, huge posts that take the better part of a day to write, and frankly, I ain't got that kinda' time.

I'm off subject. Apologies. Let me recenter.

As I said, I read and review many, many blogs. It is a joy for me to see folks from around Appalachia producing intellectually stimulating such-have-yous. But no words can describe that special pleasure I experienced, shattering my nervous system like a hammer to glass, when I first stumbled across the West Virginia Hot Dogs Blog (via William Stewart's political commentary blog, always an interesting read itself).

That's right. I said it. It is a blog about hot dogs. In West Virginia. And the culture of condiments associated with said hot dogs - specifically slaw. Oh my sweet jumping Deity. This blog makes me believe - no, scratch that - know that humanity is going to be okay. You know why? Because there are members of our species who appreciate the little things, the details. It can't be all bad when there is time for us to dabble in the glories of minutiae. Sigh.

Now, to be accurate, I should point out the the blog is merely a child of a broader project - West Virginia Hot Dogs. Um. Yes.

Oh, and guys, if you ever read this, you need to check out my hometown of Bluefield. Not only do the Dairy Queens (including the backwards DQ - long story) there have unique buns (like toast with a fissure of happy), but Bowen Field, home of the Bluefield Orioles, is legendary for its contributions to Canis caldarius culture. Go Baby O's.

Blogs of Note

I'm always on the lookout for great blogs. Why? Well, besides the art, the photos, the political commentary, and the writing, I'm always looking for themes, ideas, and widgets to improve our own little blog, not to mention my search for more writing talent. Through the process, I build up lists of must-sees that I like to share. Enjoy them. Read them. Love them. Dammit.

Oh, and all the images below, the eye-candy? They are all linked from and creative children of the owners of the blogs adhered to their posteriors. Visit them, love them, link them. They're good folk.

Among the Hills
West Virginian Methodist Haiku
(Remember the Stadium Drive Rocky Top Soda, Reverend.)


Appalachian History
Smartness. And Barney Fife.


Asheville Area Music Scene
Music Described Using Adjectives Related to the Color "Blue." And This Squirrel.

Hillbilly, Please

Another Blog Using the Word Hillbilly. Also, There Are Pictures and Words.

Ruminations From the Distant Hills

Postcards, Cryptid Felines, the Smokey Mountain Cherokee Folk, and Clever Witticisms.

Pocahontas County Fare

Knitting and Science in the Company of Marsupials


Smokey Mountain Breakdown
A Woman, Her Goats, and a Magical Floating Celtic Instrument


View from the Mountain
Beach-loving Canadio-Roanokian

If you-all know more, let us know - - - we are a community, after all.

Weekend Five: Fine Art

In recent years several movements to support live, local music have sprung up throughout Appalachia - I heartily approve of each and every dang one of them. Why? Because live, local music enriches our lives tremendously.

Here comes the curve-ball; I think we should support local everything. Musical arts, dramatic arts, visual arts, and so on. Now, I'm not abandoning my cosmopolitan ideals - support the arts of, well, everywhere you can. But as the environmentalists say, think globally, act locally. Buya.

In that spirit, I wanted to post on some fine artists in the region - some of them I know, others not so much; some of them we've mentioned here before (e.g. Yee-Haw), others less so. My suggestion? Peruse the artists, check out their work, and, if you've got the flow, make an order. Just that simple.

Commemorative print for the Yee-Haw 2006 Knoxville Museum of Art summer
exhibition (buy a copy and support an Appalachian institution here)

Julie Belcher and Kevin Bradley: Repetition. Its inevitable, especially when the subject repeated is completely awesome (Shakespeare, King Lear, act IV - - - probably). Julie Belcher (fellow former Bluefielder - go fighting chicory!) and Kevin Bradley's brainchild, Yee-Haw industries, is, was, and shall remain a masterpiece, the best print-making studio in the known universe. You want to know more - I know you do. Well, you might want to dig on the Knoxville Museum of Art site or this interview from EconoCulture.

"Web of Dreams" by Golubovic (check out her homepage here)

Mirjana Golubovic: Sometimes someone's website summarizes their work better than I can. Especially if that someone is an expert on the physics and chemistry of cellular biology. This is one of those instances. Consider:

My work is inspired by the landscapes and treescapes of West Virginia, the cosmopolitan context of modern culture, my new and old homeland tradition, my education, and my rigorous mathematical training for abstract forms of thought. Abstract art enables me to express truths and reality that may not be easily expressed through linguistic and mathematical forms.

Twelve years ago, after living in large cities of the United States and Europe, I moved to West Virginia. Having close contact with nature has been a new, inspiring experience for me. I am particularly interested in painting treescapes. Trees, with their cyclical changes, provide us hope. Their immobility exposes the struggle to grow, no matter whether the terrain is too steep or too exposed to the winds.

In my paintings, through colors, forms and themes, I try to convey my optimism, hope and joy, coupled with the struggle for survival in the harsh roughness that I absorb from the landscape around me.

Golubovic (oh, what a wonderful name) is exactly the kind of abstract expressionist I love - unafraid to openly embrace the essential truth that our composition and design as artists is utterly and necessarily grounded in our experiences in the real world. To put it in the most explicit of terms, Golubovic's work, in my opinion, favorably compares to that of my favorite living artist, Anselm Kiefer (Vaughn can testify what a major statement that is for me). Her work is fantastic, and I hope to see a heckuva' lot more of it.

"Father" by Harvey (check out his homepage here)

Syprian Harvey: Okay - putting aside Harvey's completely awesome name (makes me think of 1920s detectives, for some reason), this Asheville artist does some very intriguing work, reminiscent of the work of HR Giger (the guy whose work inspired the character and set design of Alien) amalgamated traditional African artwork - think industrial/organic. Harvey's work seems to be dominated, though by no means exclusively, by religious themes - specifically from the Jewish and Christian tradition. You might also want to check out this article from the Mountain Xpress, this one by our friends over at Ashvegas, or here, another of Syprian's sites.

"All About Eve" by Reis (check out her homepage here)

Jennifer A. Reis: To summarize Ms. Reis, a member of the faculty at Morehead State, I'll just quote the header to her website. Ahem:

Artist + Educator + Curator + Writer

There it is.

How does one describe the work of Ms. Reis? Hmm. Most of her work is textile-based; the amalgamation of beadwork and found objects, touching on themes ranging from mental health to religious themes. Her work is a joyous amalgamation of traditional Latin American iconography and composition with contemporary themes and the sort of visual lexicon that Keith Haring first graced us with. The outcome? Magnificent artwork that is infinitely approachable. Check out her blog, this short piece from the Tusca Center for Contemporary Art at the University of Kentucky, and this article from the Lexington Herald Courier on a joint show between Reis and one of her peers at MSU, Elizabeth Mesa-Gaido (which I wish I could have seen).

"Untitled" monotype of trees by Shroyer (check out his homepage here)

Walter Shroyer: Mr. Shroyer hails from my hometown of Bluefield, where he teaches up at Bluefield College (on the Commonwealth side of the line). On his website, Shroyer refers to himself as a Tree Artist, and his work, at least that I've found online, is predominately composed of ceramic and print medias. His sculptural work is focused on either the amalgamation of found materials with ceramic material, resulting in thematically unsettling meteoroids, or is symbolist, usually working from religious themes. His printmaking is, however, what I am obsessed with. The best way I can describe it is to assimilate pre-Qin dynasty Chinese calligraphy and penwork with contemporary printmaking materials and a complete and utter obsession with, well, trees. I love 'm. . . . so did Momma'. You also might want to check out this article from Southwest Virginia Community College.

Enjoy the art and please, buy original art for your home, office, school, or religious institution - it'll enrich your lives and help keep creative people here in our mountains.