Serving Hohenwald, Lewis County Tennessee Since 1898
Serving Hohenwald, Lewis County Tennessee Since 1898
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As the first chill of fall creeps in, it nudges us toward the familiar rituals of the season. But what marks the true beginning of fall? Is it the pumpkin lattes making their triumphant return to coffee shop menus? Or is it the sudden urge to wrap ourselves in cozy sweaters and embrace the cool, crisp air? While “sweater weather” has become synonymous with autumn—immortalized by the iconic Saturday Night Live skit—it could just as easily be called “crock pot season.” The time of year when we swap out light salads for hearty stews, and our kit...
“A mask tells us more than a face” -OSCAR WILDE Surrealism, an art movement born in the early 20th century, sought to unlock the power of the unconscious mind, blending dreamscapes with reality in ways that often disturbed, confused, and enchanted audiences. With its foundation in shock value, surprise, and the exploration of inner fears, surrealism shares a curious connection with Halloween, a holiday equally rooted in fear, fantasy, and the unknown. Surrealist painters like Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, and Max Ernst created worlds that...
As we look ahead to 2025, the world of fashion, design, and paint is set to embrace a rich palette of colors that reflect both the current mood and future direction. This year’s color trends reveal a balance between bold, expressive tones and calming, nature-inspired hues that speak to our desire for comfort and well-being. At the forefront of color forecasting is WGSN, the world’s leading consumer trend forecaster, known for its insights into consumer behavior and lifestyle trends. According to WGSN, the color of the year for 2025 is Future Du...
Perfume, one of the oldest human-made scents, has not only been celebrated for its captivating fragrances but also for the artistry of its containers. The history of perfume bottles is as rich and varied as the scents they hold, dating back to ancient civilizations like Egypt and Rome, where they were first used to store precious ointments and oils. These early examples were more than mere containers; they were symbols of status and craftsmanship, often made from glass, gold, or semi-precious stones. As the centuries progressed, the art of perf...
The Rise of Concrete Furniture: Durability Meets Design In both interior and exterior design, concrete furniture has emerged as a robust alternative to traditional materials like wood and plastic. Known for its strength and versatility, concrete has been used in construction for centuries but has only recently become popular as a key material in furniture design. This “industrial look” gained momentum in the early 2000s, as designers sought materials that could withstand the elements while offering aesthetic flexibility. Concrete furniture offe...
Artistic creations often transform into strange oddities and niche art installations. One prime example is North Carolina’s Patrick Dougherty, a sapling sculptor. At seventy-seven, Dougherty merges his carpentry skills and love for nature by constructing monumental art installations using organic materials, primarily sticks of various sizes and types. By organizing and weaving sticks in a uniform direction, he has created over 300 projects worldwide, including castles, mazes, and cannon-like villages. His project, Tree Circus, crafted mainly f...
Creativity, like most things in life, ebbs and flows. It manifests from a medley of ideas, later transformed into reality through paint, pen, instrument, or computer. Most compelling art emerges from a refusal to accept the mundane “as is,” striving instead to reinvent and refresh the everyday. While introspection can kindle inspiration, the true spark often ignites from external sources—be it simple or extravagant. The confidence to create and maintain creativity springs from an inner drive, one typically understood only by the artist thems...
The inception of wallpaper dates back to ancient civilizations, both Egypt and China’s early versions of wallpaper included hand-painted scenes on rice paper or silk, showcasing intricate patterns and landscapes. The Victorian era, saw a surge in wallpaper popularity. Wallpapers from this period were characterized by complicated elaborate patterns, vibrant colors, and thick textures, often mimicking textiles or featuring floral and ornamental motifs. In current design trends, there’s been a revival of murals and wallpaper, blending into wha...
Stained-glass windows, composed of colored and painted glass pieces held together by lead strips, are an example to human creativity and craftsmanship. These vibrant works of art were particularly popular in Europe between 1150 and 1550, gracing cathedrals, churches, and even city halls. The translucent quality of stained glass made it a favored medium in religious contexts, where large windows depicting scenes from the Bible and the lives of saints animated sacred spaces with colorful, glimmering lights. The artistry involved in creating...
It’s challenging to focus on topics like art, interior design, and pop culture in light of last Saturday’s Pennsylvania political rally and the attempted assassination of former President Trump. I vividly remember the attempt on President Ronald Reagan’s life—it happened on March 30, my birthday. I remember emotions of being scared, having just returned home from school to an empty house, watching the news alone. Back then, we lacked social media, video games were less intense, and the more violent TV shows were relegated to late-night slots....
The Art of Small Space Design As urban areas grow more costly and dense, our living spaces often shrink. Even in larger homes, there’s usually a room that, awkwardly shaped or poorly utilized, becomes a mere storage space. Whether it’s furniture that’s too large or a shortage of space-saving ideas, these rooms frequently fail to serve any practical purpose. Think like a tiny home designer to maximize the functionality of these small spaces. The tiny home movement - popular for those downsizing, living off-grid, or constructing guest house...
Drawing! Drawing! Drawing! From the first crayon scribbles of childhood to the finesse of adult sketches, drawing is a universal course waiting for every one of us. By grasping a pencil and exploring its angles, we begin to shape lines that evolve into the artistry of painting and beyond. Drawing is inherently mathematical; many everyday objects are composed of repetitive, evenly spaced elements. Math is problem solving, just as drawing is a tool for thought. Think of fences, ladders, door panels, and windows—each a canvas of symmetrical p...
This past weekend in Augusta, Georgia, the 2024 JoeFest Toy and Comic Book Convention showcased over 300 vendors of toys, comic books, anime, novelties, pro artists, collectibles, and celebrities! Now, that’s a lot to see! Hohenwald’s very own toy collectible store, YoJoe Depot, was there to represent and be part of the 300-vendor party. Achieving Pop-culture status means your name becomes synonymous with something in our society, like Star Wars or Levi’s. GI Joe has accomplished this and then some. When Hasbro first launched the GI Joe toy lin...
Art In Full Circle This month marks one year since I began contributing my column, Life As Art, to the Lewis County Herald. If you are a consistent reader or even if you’ve taken the time to read this column occasionally, I thank you. My hope was and always is to bring art in all its forms to you, the reader, as I truly believe art makes the world more beautiful and interesting. Many writers have different styles of writing, and my articles are drawn from everyday experiences and 30-plus years of art journals, scribbled notations on napkins, t...
Architect Philippe Starck designed and completed the Unhex Nani Nani in 1989. This green copper-sheeted modern structure stands out on an otherwise ordinary street in the middle of Tokyo. The five-story office building, with commercial space at street level, was intended for Unhex, a construction company eager to project a distinctive image. The name “Nani nani” translates to “what is it?” in Japanese, a fitting title given the puzzled reactions to the verdigris metal-clad building. What truly makes this building unique, apart from its unconve...
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall Mirrors have always played an intrinsic part in our history and mythical legends of beauty and vanity. They are essential, functional, and above all, irresistible, allowing us to see ourselves with imagination, mystery, and illusion. Mirrors play a significant role in our everyday lives of self-examination and are crucial in the design world (both residential and commercial) as decorative and functional elements in bathrooms, hallways, bedrooms, and as elective accents. By utilizing the reflection of light, mirrors ca...
Riding the Canvas: The Artistry of Motorcycle Gas Tank Art Motorcycle culture has long been intertwined with a spirit of rebellion, freedom, and individuality. One canvas that embodies this mindset is the gas tank — a blank slate awaiting the stroke of an artist’s brush. From the origins of this unique art form to its continuing popularity and the deeply personal connections it fosters, gas tank art has become an integral part of the motorcycle community. The origins of gas tank art can be traced back to the customization culture of the mid...
The Art Of Window Display In the fast paced sphere of retail fashion, the primary goal is to sell stylish clothing and ensure customer satisfaction. This dance begins with the window display, an artful introduction to the store’s offerings designed to draw the customer inside. Much like pausing to peruse a restaurant’s menu before deciding to dine, the window display invites contemplation and entices entry. For many, these stores aren’t just shopping destinations but visual escapades, thanks to the artists behind these creative insta...
May The Fourth Be With You: Celebrating Star Wars Day Every year on May 4th, a familiar phrase echoes through the halls of pop culture: “May the Fourth be with you, always!” This playful pun has given rise to Star Wars Day, a celebration of George Lucas’s iconic Star Wars franchise, which has mesmerized audiences worldwide. The origins of Star Wars Day can be traced back to the phrase itself, which cleverly riffs off the legendary line from the movies, “May the Force be with you.” This pun was first used in a full-scale organized event on May 4...
Reimagining Light: Artistic Approaches to Lighting Renovation The shadows that light creates make life interesting. If everything is brightly lit, everything demands attention. However, by using various levels of lighting, such as art lighting, column lighting, and focused decorative lighting, a theatrical component begins to emerge, making features more intriguing. Lighting designers recognize the importance of refurbishing existing lights, updating fixtures, and preserving the integrity of original decorative pieces. This often involves...
The air outside is scented with fresh-cut grass. Toads emerge from their hiding places, and docile bumblebees, reminiscent of Zeppelin airships, hover busily over a variety of flowers. In Tennessee, the landscape bursts into high-resolution color as everything blooms and various species of birds sing from dusk till dawn. As humans and artists, we have the opportunity to support our feathered friends by providing birdhouses. These structures not only bring gardens to life but also protect birds from predators, blending form and function...
Springtime Through Monet’s Eyes As the year progresses past the shorter days folding into longer ones, the Tennessee countryside begins its gradual shift towards spring, blooming with early flashes of color. Artist Claude Monet, a name that resonates deeply with the vibrancy of spring, emerges as a fitting emblem for this seasonal transformation. Monet (1840-1926) stands at the forefront of French Impressionism, distinguished for capturing nature’s beautiful moments with a brush dipped in the luminous palette of spring. Throughout his long car...
March, named after Mars, the Roman God of War, carries the vibrant energy of transformation. The expression “Mad as a March Hare,” originating in the 1500s, reflects the excitable behavior of hares, akin yet distinct from rabbits, during this springtime period. Lewis Carroll immortalized the March Hare in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (1865), presenting a character brimming with whimsy. Yet, for many, March heralds a season of celebration, a welcome shift to brighter days and vibrant colors in nature. This month ushers in handful o...
The Golden Era of Sci-Fi Cinema: Exploring the Brilliance of the 1970s,1980s to the Early 2000s The influential German science-fiction silent film of 1927 (directed by Fritz Lang) could arguably be one of the most iconic films due to its elaborate Art Deco production design and pioneering effects, dubbed a “futuristic masterpiece.” The films message, “The Mediator Between the Head and the Hands Must Be the Heart”. However, the period spanning the 1970s/1980s to the early 2000s marked a golden era for science fiction cinema, producing timeles...
The Art of Painting: Without Sanding or Primer British artist and color expert Annie Sloan revolutionized furniture painting in the 1990s with her invention of Chalk Paint. With a lifetime of research and experimentation with color, the chalk paint she created in the ‘90s remains incredibly popular. Since 1988, Annie Sloan has impressively published 26 books, serving as an invaluable resource for those researching the idea of furniture upcycling and restoration. Both seasoned artists and newcomers to the world of Chalk Paint appreciate its flex...
