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.US_LR.JPG)
Side Street. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 21.5 x 16 inches/55 x 41cm.USLR.JPG)
Tenements. Watercolor. Signed; 1970-1982. Dimensions: approx. 24 x 15 inches/59 x 38cm.
6 comments:
Thank you so much for posting these images! As a former student, I recognize several of the locations .... Market Street Grocery .... we painted there in both watercolor and acrylic class. The one titled "Side Street" ... I remember that location from watercolor class, as well as, Dock Amos Store.
Beth Tippett
thank you so much! I took from your father at MSCW as it changed to MUW. He was incredible. I feared and revered him. I have two paintings in my hall I painted while sitting with him on the roadside in Columbus. He was a great artist.
I am a proud owner of an original Charles Ambrose piece. My piece is a watercolor of the W. My namesake , Amy Thomas Stepp, was friends with Mr. Ambrose, all I know about him are stories from her. Maybe he also lived on 7th street north.
I did attend MUW as an art major, but studied under mr. Feeny. Columbus is where part of my heart will always be!!
Now I live in Santa Cruz,ca. It is beautiful... But will never compare to the lonely whistle blow of the train, or lee park.. Or my grandparents goldfish pond.
Peace on path,
Amy
Hi Amy B, and belated thanks for your comment. I met dear Amy Stepp a few times, because we did indeed live on North 7th Street, at 1125, from 1973. I also took drawing in the summer under Mr Feeny, whom I loved as a teacher. Dad, unfortunately, used to send me into nervous fits, though, because he used to come into Mr Feeny's class every morning while I was there 'to see how I was doing' - much to the amusement of the other students. I know what you mean about the train whistle - I still hear it from here in England, always just before sleep. If you have an image of your watercolour, I'd love to have it as a record; am still trying to get to grips with a biography of Dad, so all material is helpful. If it's no trouble, please send it to ja@inorbit.com. And thank you so much for finding this poor, neglected little blog and commenting. Just the spur I need to get back into it properly. Happy 2015 and peace to you, too. Jamie
Jamie,
My name is Clara H. Whitley, I was both a student and an employee of your father’s. I was in awe of his skill and vision as an artist and his tolerance of a secretary who acted more like an art student!
Having recently retired, I have returned to the Art department at the W and have been both impressed and dismayed with what I found. I am Impressed with a department that is both vibrant and physically beautiful. Two extensive remodels over the past 20 years have greatly enlarged and updated the building. The faculty (all new faces) are professional and enthusiastic and work so well with the students.
Conversely, I am dismayed by the relatively low number of students taking advantage of all this opportunity.
In addition, I was greatly shocked to learn that there are none of Charles’ paintings in the Permanent Collection!
I recently spoke with Dr. Beverly Joyce about this and she confirmed the lack. This is certainly something that should be corrected. Please let me know if there is a way to rectify this situation.
Clara W.
Hi Clara,
Thank you so much for writing. I only just managed to get your message(s) today.
It will be 20 years next year since Daddy died. During that time, and including the years immediately after his death, when I was physically in Columbus for several weeks and months at a time settling his estate, no one from the W approached me about acquiring a work for the permanent collection there - despite the fact that I donated a lot of Dad's art supplies, frames, glass, etc, to the department for student use, and took them over personally. Ironically, Mrs Porter Fortune from the University of Mississippi did get in touch with me quite easily about a work for the permanent collection at Ole Miss, and I was more than happy to oblige; Dad knew the Fortunes well from when he taught at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg...
Anyway, that's the answer to your question in a nutshell. I'd certainly be happy to look into this issue for you once I get back (I'm away at the minute - hence the delay in replying), but there is firstly the problem of logistics: half the artwork my father left behind is stored with my oldest brother in Idaho; the other half is with me here in southern England. Any work the W would be interested in would thus have to be paid for and shipped. The price of any works sold will go towards funding a biography of Dad and his work, which is long overdue and which I aim to finish by next year, as well as to help establish a 'core collection' to be placed in a museum, either in the South in general or indeed in Mississippi, possibly at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Laurel. These are both tasks I fully intend to do, and I have made some progress cataloguing the artwork over the years and drafting the bio outline, but because I have to make my own living as a freelance writer/editor, I am sadly not in a position to donate paintings or ship them gratis. However, I'm planning to do some research into possible funding over the summer, starting with the Mississippi Arts Commission. If you have any suggestions or contacts or ideas about this, I'd be grateful to hear them.
Do feel free to contact me directly via ja@inorbit.com - it'll get to me much quicker than via the blog - although I'm very glad you found it. It's yet another thing I need to overhaul, add to and 'do properly', but the work/life balance simply hasn't allowed that just yet.
Thanks so much again for getting in touch. I won't be back in the office until after a week or so, but hope to hear from you with any thoughts, etc, then.
Best wishes,
Jamie
Post a Comment