I was contacted by West Elm to submit a proposal to do a 6 foot by 12 foot work of Art for the opening of their New Store at the Shops Around Lenox. They were interested in my steel work, but let me know that the artwork had to be done in time for the opening of the store....In ten days! I let them know that it a 10 day turn around would be impossible for the steel work, but proposed doing a piece that was similar using ink and paper.
West Elm wanted me to tie the artwork to Atlanta somehow. I proposed that the piece reference the history of Atlanta as "Terminus" or the end of the rail road line. The great southern author, Pat Conroy wrote in one of his books (I need to find out which one) that Atlanta is a place where they built a city, but kept the forrest intact. I always loved how he put that and it is, indeed a distinguishing characteristic of our town. I included silhouettes of southern pines and silhouettes of Terminal Station and I wrote out passages about the history of Terminal Station and the train lines that came through Terminus. The style is loose, and influenced by Japanese brush painting. Overall I am pleased with how it turned out and it has started me on a path to a new body of work.