THE REAL DEAL IN A COLONY OF ARTISTS:  DARLENE SHADDEN

Darlene Shadden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ee2kto2RX-Q

While I have been lax in keeping my blog current, I hope to do better in this coming year. I have received some divine inspiration to do so recently. You see, sometimes life brings you full circle. I’m sure you’re familiar with the phrase. It happened for me when I ran into a friend whose home I used to visit back in the 1970’s. She lived in a house that was affectionately referred to as ‘the green house.’ As a matter of fact, I had included one mention of the green house and its characters in my book The Ancient Paths. It was not a greenhouse where plants are grown though; the reason for calling it the green house was that it was painted green. Hello!

Darlene’s home was host to many of her friends in the 70’s and as such, it is no wonder that she is remembered fondly by many today. While Darlene was a soulful nightclub singer in the 1970’s, she also had other talents, such as drawing and painting. I had seen some of her artwork on the walls of her home back in the day; however, I had no idea of the extent of her artistic talent.

I remember mentioning in a previous blog that one of my writing teachers at Watkins Film School had referred to Nashville as a ‘colony of artists,’ likening it to the image of Paris, France in the 1920’s. And Steven Womack was exactly right…Nashville is that colony of artists. This is not only Music City, but it is a hub for creative talent of many types.  She draws and paints real things, and she brings them to life again through the mastery of her paintbrush, pastels and charcoals. Living in Nashville/Music City USA, there is no shortage of icons to focus on as subjects for her art, with Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley being the subjects of some of her lifelike drawings. And yet, there is one that is especially real, and that is the drawing of a man in Memphis, sitting on a wooden chair, strumming and putting out blues sounds on his acoustic guitar. Darlene’s ability to demonstrate depth and dimension in her pieces is evident in this colorful painting.  She is an impressionist.

As I walk through her home, there is room after room of magnificent, colorful canvases which have been brought to life by her capable hands. Hanging in my office beside my desk is a piece she has done which is quite reminiscent of a Monet. It is a pastel of the pond, trees and bridge at #Centennial #Park, home of the #Parthenon in Nashville. I have it on loan from the artist.

While her paintings are gorgeous and colorful and very representative of their real life counterparts, Darlene is also still a vocal artist as well as a pianist. She still has a jazzy, soulful twang to her vocals, and she is a skilled pianist. She jams with a group of musicians on the weekends, and on a routine schedule, she plays and sings for homes for the elderly, while also teaching art classes at Centennial Park Arts Center. I listened one day as she worked with my 4 year old grandson to teach him a few keys on the piano and she then played on one end of the piano as he pecked away at the keys at the other end. He began to dance, then picked up Darlene’s tambourine and shook that around.  Her creative energy is contagious to say the least. Darlene has studied art under some of the modern day masters such as #Burt #Silverman, Chris Saper, Lula Estes, Paul LaVelle, Margaret Baumgartner, Dawn Whitelaw, Harold Miller and #Hazel #King. She has taught art for 10 years at the Centennial Park Arts Center. I may be biased in my opinions, but I believe that her artistic genius should no longer be kept a secret. Check out the link at the top of the blog for a sampling of her talent.