|
HSC Museum Will Introduce Pictures During Brickfest |
|
Friday, 26 June 2009 |
These paintings were donated to the Malvern Museum by Paul A.J. Spheeris.
During Brickfest, the Hot Spring County Museum will be introducing two pictures created by local artist Paul Spheeris to help generate interest in the Gibbs log cabin.
Paul Andrew Joseph Spheeris was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana at Our Lady of the Lake Hospital on December 1, 1926. He was the son of Elizabeth Calley Spheeris and Andrew Spheeris. He lived in numerous cities all over the United States with his family. In 1941 he moved to Malvern with his Mother and siblings and attended Malvern High School. His siblings; George A Spheeris, John A. Spheeris and Hellen Spheeris Compton also attended Malvern schools. He graduated from Malvern High School in 1944 and was drafted into the United States Army. He went to the West Coast for basic training and by the time he was deployed, World War II was over and he was sent to Korea. He served in Korea until his discharge in December 1946.
During his time in Korea he began a lifelong collection of Asian art. He returned to Malvern and attended Henderson State University for a short time when he heard that an art school in Indianapolis, Indiana was enrolling new students. He went to Indianapolis and enrolled at John Herron Art Institute where he studied sculpture. He was awarded a B. A. of Fine Arts in 1954. His work and developing reputation in the Indianapolis area led to his position as Curator of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. During his time there he was considered one of the top five authorities on Oriental Art in the United States. While there he also continued to add to his own extensive personal collection of Oriental Art.
While at the Indianapolis Museum of Art he won the honor of designing and creating the Indianapolis sesquicentennial medallion in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the city.
He retired and moved to Costa Rica in the 1970’s. While in Costa Rica he began to paint butterflies and views of the Costa Rican country-side. He had always considered himself a student of fine art and restoration and a sculptor. It was during this time that he began to paint and produced some of his outstanding art. His butterfly paintings were done to scale and are so beautiful you think you are looking at a butterfly that has been mounted on a piece of paper. He self published a collection of these butterfly paintings so that his family and friends could enjoy them.
After several years in Costa Rica he moved back to the Houston area to be near his mother and family. He lived in LaPorte, Texas in a home full of Oriental treasures. He enjoyed entertaining his family and friends. His greenhouse and gardens were always full of beautiful orchids and other exciting and exotic plants. He designed many Asian style gardens in the Houston area using his knowledge and interest to bring beauty into many lives.
After an infamous Gulf Coast storm damaged his home in LaPorte he moved to San Antonio, Texas to be with family. In 1998 Paul moved to Shanghai, China. While there he worked with John Xu, teaching him the techniques of art restoration.
Together they formed an art restoration company which Mr. Xu continues to this day. In 2001, he was awarded honorary professor status at the Shanghai University where he was scheduled to begin teaching art restoration as an academic course. Unfortunately, Paul was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in August 2001 and returned home to San Antonio, for treatment and surgery. Although esophageal cancer has a very low survival rate, Paul lived eight more years during which time he continued his research on Asian art.
During this time he also self published a book of his paintings which he titled ‘Painting the Oriental Way’ Many of the paintings are inspired by art that he owned, many by his trips to China, many by his life experience with the Oriental lifestyle.
• Information on the paintings donated to the Malvern Museum By Paul A. J. Spheeris in 2009:
The painting of the original Gibbs cabin at Walco was done from a family photograph. This is the home where his grandmother Martha Graves (Gray) Gibbs was born and lived until her first marriage to Edd Clem. He always said the little girl was his mother when she was a child. It is believed that he added this feature in her honor.
The painting of his grandmother’s home at 203 Clardy in Malvern was done from a photograph and his memory of being there as a child. His grandparents were Martha Graves (Gray) Gibbs Clem Calley and Joe Calley who lived in this home until their deaths.
Paul wrote of this painting, “My grandmother’s house had an attic that became the only place I could be alone and that was only on Sundays when everyone was taking a nap after the big noon meal that was traditional.”
• The HSC Museum will be open Thursday June 25 from 12:30 - 4:30 p.m., Friday June 26 from 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. and on Saturday June 27 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. The Museum is located next to the library at 302 E. 3rd St. in Malvern.
|
|
Last Updated ( Thursday, 09 July 2009 )
|
