Breaking Ground 100 Arts - Fine Arts Selections

Seven tall and thin stylized black human figures in colorful outfits are shown dancing and in different poses against a bright pink and orange abstract background. The figures are simply drawn, with no real features, just images of bodies dancing.
“Dancers” by Laura Hudson. Artist bio: Laura Hudson of Nashville uses vivid colors and markers and fills lush, natural settings with beautiful flowers, colorful birds, and a variety of large and small creatures. She said, “Art helps me calm down and have fun.”
The photo shows two brown beautiful horses in a green meadow on a cloudy day nuzzling one another’s necks and manes.
“2 Nuzzling Horses in Iceland” by Houston Vandergriff. Photographer Houston Vandergriff has Down syndrome and lives in Powell, Tennessee, but is a globetrotter who has traveled to 47 states and 22 countries. He loves to share his unique way of seeing the world through his gift of photography.
A sunny, bright, watercolor painting of a blue sky and bright green grass and pale yellow sun. The painting is done in splotches, meant to look like a watercolor and not very realistic.
“Wild Blue Yonder” by Christy Earheart. Painter Christy Earheart, LMSW is a Quality Assurance Analyst with Greater Nashville Regional Council, a People to People Interviewer with The Arc Tennessee, and a Partners in Policymaking® graduate. She said, “Art is a means to re-energize after stress. This and growing plants are important hobbies I enjoy sharing with others.”
A close-up photo of a man with Down syndrome wearing a fisherman’s hat. He is at the beach, near the edge of the water, and the photo shows him on a sunny, windy day with the shadow of the photographer on the sand behind him.
“Steven at St. George Island” by Jeff Harden. Jeff Harden lives in Cleveland, Tennessee, and is the father of an adult son with a disability. In Jeff’s words, “I love to take photos of all the places we go, to have a picture to go along with the memory.”
The painting shows parts of 4 faces; the faces are overlapping and appear to be two men and two women, with different complexions and hair colors. They are shown against a light purple watercolor background with lines, which looks almost like a spider web or clouds.
“Watercolor Faces” by John L. Butts, Jr. John L. Butts, Jr. lives in Clarksville and attends the Centerstone Peer Support Center. He said, “Making art relaxes me and I feel calm.” John likes to draw faces of people of various cultures.
A painting with swirling patterns of cool colors like blues and greens, reminiscent of the surface of a body of water like a pond, with white spots that look almost like bubbles.
“Life,” by Erika Jensen. Erika Jensen is from Manchester and is a member of the Centerstone Peer Support Center in Tullahoma. Her picture, “Life,” is an acrylic pour painting; each color was mixed with a small amount of glue and water, then several colors are poured without mixing into a cup. The cup is allowed to flow over the canvas, then left alone to dry.
A watercolor painting with watery blotches of all colors all over the canvas; it reminds a viewer of liquid on a slide under microscopes – round shapes all overlapping and all types of colors.
“Joyous Explosion,” by Debbie Hanson. Debbie Hanson of Flintville enjoys trying new materials and techniques as she creates her artwork. Debbie helped set up an ongoing Healing Arts Project, Inc. art exhibit, which features art created by people in mental health and addiction recovery.
The artwork is a black and white photo, what appears to be an extreme close up of a single eye. The eye is perhaps wearing makeup – you can see the eyelashes and iris of the eye, but the photo has a blurry and unreal quality to it.
“Untitled,” by Joey McNinch. Photographer Joey McNinch, age 14, has had several photographs published in “Breaking Ground.” Joey has autism and lives in Mount Juliet.
A painting that shows colorful and vibrant flowers of reds, pinks, yellows and blues cascading down the canvas in soft and blurry lines. The canvas is split into two pieces, with a thin strip on the left, a gap, and then the rest of the painting on the right – it looks like the view through a fence into a garden or through a window. The name of the painting and artist are at the bottom in blue flowery handwriting.
“What Tom Saw, Peeking,” by Kathy Tupper. Multi-talented artist Kathy Tupper has more than 50 years’ experience in graphic design, illustration, and writing. She is also a watercolor design and techniques instructor.
A painting of a bunch of four beets, which have green leaves at the top and a rich dark red for the body of the beet, against a light brown dirt-like background.
“Winter Beets,” by Nancy Olson. Nancy Olson lives in Murfreesboro and likes to paint watercolors with her art class at Our Place Peer Center. She said, “Creating art distracts my worries and I feel productive.” She reflects the time of harvest in rural farms with her painting, Winter Beets.
A fairly realistic drawing portrays a goose about to take flight from a marshland, in a landscape with water, reeds and grasses. The colors of the artwork are browns, white, grays and other fall or winter colors.
“Marshlands,” by Barbara Shirley. Barbara Shirley of Madison incorporates a variety of mediums including ink, charcoal, acrylics, and oils, and is continually seeking new combinations of materials to create her art, which often expresses her love of nature.
A realistic-looking drawing or painting of a larger parent giraffe reaching its head down to nuzzle the head of a smaller baby giraffe.
“Giraffes,” by LeeAnn Wilson. Artist Leann Wilson lives in Clarksville. She said, “I love to paint. It brings me peace of mind.”
A drawing of an older woman. She has dark hair pulled back from her face, glasses, a bright blue dress with a white swirling pattern and a serious expression on her face. She is seated at a table with her hands folded up under her chin. There is a decoration, perhaps a mirror, on the wall behind her.
“Expression,” by Augie Collier. Augie Collier has a gift for drawing out the personal strength of the subjects in his art. Augie works in various mediums, including acrylics, oils, charcoal, and oil pastel, and used oil pastels for Expression.
A photo of a piece of pottery that is shaped like a trapezoid, wider at the bottom and narrower on top. The bottom of the piece is painted green like grass. There is a detailed outline of a bird, a dove, perched on the grass with decorative swirls inside its outline. The rest of the pottery is gray, like a cloudy day.
“Dove of Peace,” pottery by Louise McKown. Louise McKown is a potter who has a rare progressive neurological condition. She worked for 20 years at the East TN Technology Access Center, and is a Partners in Policymaking® graduate. She takes pottery classes at the Oak Ridge Art Center.
A square canvas covered with purples, blues and greens overlapping one another. There are yellow flowers with brown centers speckled throughout the purple and blue and green background, so it looks like a blurry abstract painting of golden flowers in a garden.
“Golden Garden,” by Derrick Freeman. Derrick Freeman is a self-taught artist with autism. He has exhibited his artwork throughout Tennessee, including the Tennessee Governor’s Mansion, Vanderbilt University, Lipscomb University, Tennessee Disability MegaConference, and the Knoxville Museum of Art. Derrick has been the recipient of several awards for his community advocacy work, including The Arc Mid-South’s Outstanding Artist and Performer Award and the Future Horizons Inc.’s Dr. Temple Grandin Award for Outstanding Success.
A colored pencil drawing of two young girls facing away, towards a view of a lake with mountains in the background and birds in the sky. The two girls are at the water’s edge, holding hands. One sister is in a pink shirt and pink skirt, with long brown hair blowing in the wind. The other sister is seated in a wheelchair and she is pointing in the distance to the mountains or the birds to show her sister.
“Sisters drawing,” by Caroline Mattheis. Caroline Mattheiss is an 8th grader in Chattanooga. This is Caroline’s picture of herself and her older sister, Emily, who love to spend time outdoors together.
This piece of art shows all sorts of abstract swirls and patterns and curves of color. The center shows a wheel divided into different colors, and from the center radiates out different patterns – stripes, odd flower shapes, various twisting lines, triangles, what looks like striped snake creatures. All sorts of colors are included in different parts of the drawing.
"Trippy-Hippy" by Mitchell Wiseman. Mitchell Wiseman lives in Shelbyville, where he attends the Centerstone Peer Support Center. Mitchell expresses himself with his personal and unique abstracts. He said having others appreciate his work means the world to him.