Art for art’s sake

Throughout his life, Charles Ambrose created art: in the classroom alongside students, for commissions, as demonstrations in workshops, but also solely for his own pleasure – and ultimately for that of others. Many of the works in this gallery began life as early watercolors that he never considered good enough to show; when he finally retired in 1988, however, the artist began to pull out these early works and transform them by going over the watercolor surface with ink pens - including dime-store felt-tips as well as technical drawing instruments such as rapidographs - for hours, adding a myriad tiny abstract patterns. The result was a breathtaking series of intricate mixed-media abstracts which both he and his wife, Betty, felt were some of the best works he ever produced. They were not created 'in the studio', but instead on a drawing board in his lap while he sat in an easy chair – more often than not, late at night while listening to the television.
All images and content are copyright © 2009 by Jamie E. Ambrose

Canyon Shades (top: full work, bottom: detail). Watercolor and oil ink. Signed; 1991. Matted/framed. Unmatted dimensions: approx. 20 by 14 inches/51 x 35cm.


Badlands. Watercolor and ink. Signed; circa 1990. Matted/framed. Unmatted dimensions: approx. 21 by 14 inches/54 x 37cm.


Sycamore Sink. Watercolor and ink. Signed; 1991. Matted/framed. Unmatted dimensions: approx. 29 by 21 inches/72 x 54cm. This large work was one my father valued more highly than all others, due, one can only guess, to the untold hours he spent meticulously covering the original watercolor in millions of abstract line patterns. My mother found it too dark and brooding for her tastes, but it captures the essence of a natural Southern 'sink'.



Woodland Cathedral (top, plus detail). Watercolor and ink. Signed; 1991. Matted/framed. Unmatted dimensions: approx. 22 by 17 inches/56 x 43cm. Look closely at this painting and you will find 'bromeliads' and 'ferns' hidden within what reminds me of a Southern pine forest on a bright autumn day...


The Spawn. Watercolor and oil ink. Signed; circa 198(7)8-1990. Matted/framed. Unmatted dimensions: approx. 22 by 17 inches/56 x 43cm. This is slightly earlier than the rest of the 'retirement period' abstracts, so may have been created during the last years of Ambrose’s tenure at William Carey College on the Coast. However, it clearly uses the same technique as the others; hence I have placed it in this grouping for now. Dimensions are a guess; I thought I had it catalogued already, as I knew it well – and completely forgot to measure it during the last encounter...

In the classroom: the human figure

Studying the human figure in art is more than figure or ‘life’ studies, in which students draw a posed human model – although these naturally make up a large part of it. Like Leonardo, Ambrose believed in getting to know the human body from the inside out, and he sought to teach his students the beauty that was inherent even in its humblest parts, as well as the grace of the body as form in its own right.

While at USM, he also tried to show the difference in human anatomy and proportions by posing child models alongside adults. I know: I was one of them, taken out of kindergarten, dressed in a leotard and posed back to back with a similarly clad adult model, made to sit still for what seemed like hours to me (probably all of 15–20 minutes each sitting).

There were also, of course, the usual figure drawing classes, in which students drew from posed models, sometimes clothed and sometimes nude – something that seemed perfectly normal to us Ambroses. Yet I remember my father telling us how, occasionally, he had to explain to a jittery new student that there was nothing ‘indecent’, ‘sinful’ or ‘dirty’ about drawing from life. ‘If they give it a try for just five or ten minutes,’ he would say, ‘they realize that drawing a human model is just the same as drawing a skull, a piece of cloth, a post. You’re not drawing a “naked person”; you’re drawing a subject.’ It’s true. Having been on both sides of this equation as an adult, I can state unequivocally: ‘the model’ is exactly that – a model, an anonymous subject, as impersonal to a class of art students as a tree trunk. So much so, in fact, that some art professors (though, to my knowledge, not my father) forget that their models are prone to cold, muscle cramps and hunger, and sometimes faint if made to stand for too long at a stretch…

All images and content are copyright © 2009 by Jamie E. Ambrose

Dry Bones. Watercolor. Unsigned; 1970s (?; I believe this was painted during the artist's tenure in Columbus). Dimensions: approx. 30 x 22 inches; 76 x 56cm. Skeletal studies were always part of the art student's curriculum. However, my father liked to challenge students’ ways of viewing the human body, inside and out. Here, a jumbled hanging arrangement of a human skeleton turns a straight anatomical study into a still life.



Study of the Knee. Pentel on newsprint. Signed; 1960s; matted; framed. Dimensions: approx. 12 x 17 inches; 30.5 x 43cm.



Two Students I. Ink. Signed; 1950–70; matted; framed. Dimensions: approx. 16.25 x 10 inches; 41 x 26cm. Figure studies were never confined to the indoor classroom; here, Ambrose captured two of his students while they were working outdoors.



Reclining Nude. Charcoal on newsprint. Unsigned; 1950s–early 60. Dimensions: approx. 18 x 24 inches; 46 x 61cm.

In the classroom: still life

Skulls, driftwood, bottles, bones, twigs, plants, shells... the flotsam and jetsam of life made ideal subjects with which to train art students’ eyes, and their teacher enjoyed arranging and rearranging them into new and more challenging combinations. The results were often every bit as provocative and beautiful as landscapes or portraits.
I will continue to add to this gallery, as well as the others in this blog, as time and work allow.

All images and content are copyright © 2009 by Jamie E. Ambrose

Unfinished Still Life with Skull. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 16 x 17 inches/41 x 43cm. Even though he signed this one – at the request of his wife and daughter – Ambrose considered it unfinished, yet it has a wonderfully powerful quality that could so easily have been lost, had it been overworked.


Still Life with Skull. Charcoal on newsprint. Signed; 1960s(?). Dimensions: approx. 16 x 18 inches/41 x 46cm. Betty Ambrose, the artist’s wife, oftened said she believed Ambrose was even a better draughtsman than he was a painter. Viewing elegant studies such as this one, with its exquisite control of what can be a fickle medium, it isn’t difficult to see why…

Vanished Coasts, Part 3: Gulfport, Biloxi, & environs MS/Gulf Shores, AL

My father loved coastlines, and most especially the Gulf Coast, with which he had been familiar since his adolescence. Whether on our annual vacations to Gulf Shores, AL, or when teaching or running workshops in Gulfport and Biloxi, MS, he enjoyed nothing better than painting boats, piers and the fisherfolk who worked or played on them. The paintings shown here may have been painted either in Mississippi or Alabama, but the exact location isn’t important: they capture the essence of coastal life.
I will continue to add to this gallery, as well as the others in this blog, as time and work allow.

All images and content are copyright © 2009 by Jamie E. Ambrose

Biloxi Packet. Watercolor. Signed; undated, but 1970s-1980s. Matted/framed. Unmatted dimensions: approx. 13 x 9 inches/33cm x 23cm. The artist did not make a habit of 'working small', but when he did, the result usually proved to have a unique elegance, which can be seen in this beautiful little work.



Shrimpboats. Watercolor. Signed; undated, but late 1960s - 1970s (?). Matted/framed. Unmatted dimensions: approx. 28 x 16 inches/71 x 40.5cm. The indentations in the upper lefthand corner are a mystery; however, it is very likely that my father simply absent-mindedly set something heavy on top of this one without realizing it when shifting it around for storage, whether at home or in his office on campus.

Columbus: 1970-1982

In 1970, Charles Ambrose took up the position of head of the art department at what was then Mississippi State College for Women (MSCW; now MUW). The move took him farther away from his beloved coast, but brought him back into the vicinity of his boyhood home in Reform, AL, where he lived as a young teenager after his father died, and where his mother, three of his four brothers and other relatives still lived.

The antebellum homes and downtown streets of Columbus provided plenty of subject matter for paintings, but as always, Ambrose also responded to the beauty of the atypical: run-down shacks, derelict stores, railroad yards, cemeteries. These became some of regular places he took his now all-female watercolour classes to paint – often much to their surprise.

I shall be adding more images to this and the other galleries, so this blog is very much a work in progress, but thought I'd go ahead and start showing most as they're loaded on. These works have spent far too many years 'in the basement'.
All images and content are copyright © 2009 by Jamie E. Ambrose


Abandoned House. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 27 x 19 inches/69 x 49cm. One of the artist’s most beautiful, and magical, watercolors.



Market Street Grocery. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 27.5 x 17 inches/70cm x 43cm.



Fifth Street, Columbus. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 27 x 21 inches/69 x 54cm.


Downtown Columbus III. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 27 x 20 inches/68cm x 51cm.


Dock Amos Store. Watercolor (sepia?). Unsigned; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 24 x 19 inches/61cm x 48cm.


Downtown Columbus II. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 27 x 21 inches/69cm x 46cm.

Junction Confab. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 20 x 13 inches/51 x 33cm.


Side Street. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 21.5 x 16 inches/55 x 41cm.


Tenements. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 24 x 15 inches/59 x 38cm.

Hattiesburg: 1950-1970

Charles Ambrose began teaching art at what was then Mississippi Southern College, now the University of Southern Mississippi, in September, 1950. He was eager to get a position at a college, to further his career as well as to support his wife-to-be, Betty Rainer; the two were married on October 21, 1950, and took up residence in one of the faculty 'campus houses'. Ambrose would remain at Southern until 1970.

His work from this period, particularly that created during the 1950s and early 1960s, is looser and less controlled than that produced in the 1970s-80s – reflecting, quite naturally, the artist as a younger man. Yet there is often a rawer energy, a vibrancy, apparent in work from this period, not only discernible in the looser style but also, at times, in his use of color.
I will continue to add to this gallery, as well as the others in this blog, as time and work allow.

All images and content are copyright © 2009 by Jamie E. Ambrose

Hennington Lake (original title 'Hennington’s Lake'). Watercolor. Signed; 1950s/early 60s. Dimensions: approx. 23 x 23 inches/58.5cm x 58.5cm. I cannot recall ever being taken to Hennington Lake, but this painting was certainly part of my childhood landscape, and seemed always to have hung on the living room wall of our house at 107 North 23rd Avenue – which means it has to have been painted in the 1950s or very early '60s. Some viewers have found it dark and slightly sinister, but I have always loved its broody nature. The dark shadow at its centre, past the boats, still draws me in like a secret.


Railyard. Watercolor. Signed; 1950s/early 60s. Dimensions: approx. 22 x 30 inches/56cm x 76cm. Colors and style suggest this to have been painted in Hattiesburg, most likely during the mid-late 1950s.


Back Streets, Hattiesburg. Watercolor. Unsigned; 1950s/early 60s. Dimensions: approx. 22 x 32 inches/56cm x 81cm.


Camp Shelby(?). Watercolor. Signed; 1950s/early 60s. Dimensions: approx. 22 x 30 inches/56cm x 76cm. Camp Shelby is a best guess; I know my father mentioned painting out there, but have not yet been able to confirm that this is what is depicted here.



Shoreline. Watercolor. Signed; 1950s. Dimensions: approx. 26 x 15 inches/66cm x 38cm.



Hattiesburg. Ink. Unsigned; 1950s/early 60s. Dimensions: approx. 18.75 x 24 inches/47.5 x 61cm.

Gulf Shores and environs

I will continue to add to this gallery, as well as the others in this blog, as time and work allow.

All images and content are copyright © 2009 by Jamie E. AmbroseAll images and content are copyright © 2009 by Jamie E. Ambrose

Driftwood. Watercolor. Unsigned; undated, but probably 1980s. Approx. dimensions: 22 x 15 inches/56cm x 38cm. Ambrose loved driftwood as a subject; its colours, texture and contortions made for enjoyable study, and a huge chunk hung over the fireplace in his Columbus home.


Back-beach Dunes. Watercolor. Signed; undated, but judging from the colors this is an earlier work, so was painted when Ambrose was living in Hattiesburg (1950-70), probably during the 1960s. Approx. dimensions: 19.75 x 30.5 inches/50 x 77.5cm. A study of his work through the decades shows a change in the colors used; when Ambrose had cataracts removed as an older man, he remarked repeatedly at how different colors appeared. He always maintained that he had 'a warm eye and a cool eye'; after the first operation, he said that the warm/cool sides seemed reversed.

Dune and Driftwood. Watercolor. Unsigned; undated, but judging from the colors this is an earlier work, so was painted when Ambrose was living in Hattiesburg (1950-70). Approx. dimensions: 22 x 30 inches/56 x 76cm.

Vanished Coasts, part 2: Gulfport, Biloxi, and environs pre-Katrina, continued

All images and content are copyright © 2009 by Jamie E. Ambrose



Tied Up for Repair. Watercolor. Signed; undated, but 1970s-1980s. Matted/framed. Unmatted dimensions: approx. 28 by 20 inches/71cm x 51cm.



Untitled. Watercolor. Signed; undated, but this is from the 1970s-1980s, most probably the latter when Ambrose was teaching at William Carey College on the Coast. Dimensions: approx. 29.75 x 22 inches/75.5cm x 56cm.



Fish Camp. Watercolor. Unsigned; undated, but 1970s-1980s. This same camp was painted many times, from this and other angles, using different colour combinations and styles (see below), which suggests it was a favourite place for Ambrose to take his coastal students. Approx. artwork dimensions (photo is of a cropped area; painting is on a full-size watercolor sheet): approx. 22 x 30 inches/56cm x 76cm.



Fish Camp. Watercolor. Signed; undated, but 1970s-1980s. Approx. artwork dimensions (photo is of a cropped area; painting is on a full-size watercolor sheet): 18 x 8 inches/46cm x 20cm.


'Keep Out'. Ink. Unsigned; undated, but probably 1980s. Approx. dimensions: 24 x 18 inches/61cm x 46cm.



Boatyard. Wash. Unsigned; undated, but probably 1980s. Approx. dimensions: 22 x 30 inches/56cm x 76cm. The artist often visited boatyards and marinas in search of subject matter, both on the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf coasts.



Tied Up. Wash. Unsigned; undated, but probably 1980s. Approx. dimensions: 22 x 15 inches/56cm x 38cm. When he ran out of supplies, my father occasionally (and annoyingly for his archivist) painted on both sides of a sheet of paper, especially when he wanted to paint alongside students. This work is on one side of the paper…



Gulfport(?). Wash. Unsigned; undated, but probably 1980s. Approx. dimensions: 22 x 15 inches/56cm x 38cm. …while this work is on the other (see above).


Old Courthouse, Gulfport(?). Watercolour. Signed; 1981. Approx. dimensions: 22 x 30 inches/56cm x 76cm (paper is white, but I didn't get a decent resolution on this one when I shot it). I am at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to identifying many of my father's works. My best guess for this that it is the Old Federal Courthouse in Gulfport, MS, but cannot verify this at the minute from the net.



Misssissippi(?) Coast. Watercolour. Unsigned, undated. 1980s-90s. Approx. dimensions: 22 x 30 inches/56cm x 76cm (paper is white, but I didn't get a decent resolution on this one when I shot it). Unsigned, untitled, undated… this is my father all over, I'm afraid. A bane to an archivist, but I understand why: when you've finished a work, your soul is spent, and signing, dating or even titling a work isn't exactly 'inspiring' by comparison - especially if you've been painting alongside students, class ends and you have to get back to campus or head home for supper...