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Articles:
University Record
"Crowds and Colors Merge at Art Fairs"
August 7, 2008
Chattanooga Times-Free Press
"Artists Go Bananas at Mural Project"
June 24th, 2002
Chattanooga Times-Free Press
"Raining Cats and Dogs"
October 15th, 2000
Chattanooga Times-Free Press
"Slices of Life"
December 5th, 1999
Dalton Daily Citizen-News
"Best Fine Crafts Work of Art"
September 26th, 1999
Riverbend Festival 2000 Official
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Chattanooga Times-Free Press "Artists Go Bananas at Mural Project" June 24th, 2002 By Sean McCombs Staff Writer For Ruthi and Tess McNerlin, it's just a chance to paint, but their finished product will help the Chattanooga Zoo. "I'm painting just because it's fun," 6-year-old Tess said. "It brings out the artist in me," 11-year-old Ruthi said. The girls' parents explained that the mural being painted at the Chattanooga Market next to Finley Stadium will be auctioned off to help the Chattanooga Zoo. Three local artists designed a mural and are letting the public paint it. "The zoo is kind of falling apart," artist Lisa Silas said. "The animals need better habitats and better funding." Ms. Silas teamed up with Dana Shavin and Brent Sanders to design the mural and are giving the general public the chance to paint it at the Chattanooga Market for three weeks. The project is sponsored by the arts and culture division of the Chattanooga Parks and Recreation department. "It's not just kids," Ms. Shavin said. "Grown-ups have been painting on it, too." The public will have the next two Sundays to help the three finish the three, 4-foot-by-4-foot panels, Ms. Shavin said. "The mural itself is a picture of the city with animals superimposed on it," Ms. Silas said. Ducks, deer, turtles and apes are intertwined with landmarks like the Chattanooga Aquarium, the Walnut Street Bridge and Lookout Mountain. Even though the McNerlin sisters and other painters who stopped by the Chattanooga Market on Sunday got a good start on the mural, there is plenty of work to be done, Ms. Shavin said. "We will just continue to paint on top of it," she said. "The finished product will look much different than this." The finished mural will be donated to the Chattanooga Zoo's Banana Ball on Sept. 12. The artists said the individual panels can be bid on, or the whole mural may be purchased. "One-hundred percent of the proceeds of the sale of the mural will go to the zoo," Ms. Shavin said. She said artists normally get 60 percent of the proceeds when commissioned to do fund-raising projects such as this. Ms. Shavin said she had no idea how much the mural would sell for, but said the proceeds were going to a good cause. The exact destination of the finished mural also is uncertain because the winning bidder can put it wherever they want, she said. back to top |
Chattanooga Times-Free Press
"Raining Cats and Dogs"
October 15th, 2000
Chattanooga Times-Free Press Ten years ago, Dana Shavin was working as a psychological examiner, living in a trailer and painting greenware on the side. She was also miserable. One day, she simply decided to change her life, and after formulating an image of how she wanted her future to unfold, she devised the following five-point plan: stop smoking, buy a house, quit her job, submit her nonfictional essays for publication and learn how to throw pots. With a small cushion of savings, Ms. Shavin stepped out on faith to make her dream come true. Once she secured a loan to buy a farm in Chickamauga, Ga., she turned in her notice at a local mental health facility. Next, she enrolled in a pottery course taught by Clay Grigsby at Chattanooga State Technical Community College. After amassing an inventory of artistic work, which included clay vessels, platters and bowls, she began exhibiting at fine art and craft shows. Her unusual graphic images of people, animals and household scenes soon caught on with the public, as well as judges who frequently acknowledged her efforts with awards. For the next five years, she continued to produce her distinctive ceramics. Her designs evolved from simple, stylized black-and-white figures to colorful pictures that depicted the "things that happen in between the big moments of our lives." "Cleaning the oven, talking to the dog, taking a bath and having a cup of coffee are everyday events that occur while we’re waiting for weddings, births, a raise, etc.," she explained. In addition to the change in her designs and imagery, Ms. Shavin noticed that her pots kept getting wider and flatter so that she could do more painting on them. Eventually, she abandoned vessels for flat tiles until it finally dawned on her that what she really wanted to do was paint. But there was one problem. "I’m addicted to functional art, and I feel that if I’m going to make something, I should be able to use it," she said. She found the solution with floorcloths. Using acrylic and latex housepaint on lengths of primed cotton canvas, she was able to translate, on a grand scale, her "slices of daily life." One of her recent floorcloths received the best-of-show award in the outdoor portion of Dalton Creative Arts Guild’s Fall Festival. More important though, during the festival her work came to the attention of Lissa Wyman, editor of Rug News, who suggested that Ms. Shavin send some examples of her floorcloths to Nichols Hill, an upscale venue for home décor products. After viewing the work, Nichols Hill decided to purchase three of her designs—"Thoughts of Home," "Naked Tattooed Lady Draws a Bath" and "Explaining Art to the Dog"—for its winter catalog that will be marketed to Neiman-Marcus, Gumps, Potpourri, The Paragon, Ballards and others. Looking back on her 10-year journey to this point in her career, Ms. Shavin realizes that she has accomplished all of her goals. In addition to her artistic success, she has had a number of her literary works published, and, yes, she did stop smoking. Her philosophy is: "I believe that all you have to do is get out there, follow your path and doors will open." Note: Ms. Shavin’s work may be seen locally at the in-Town Gallery and at the Barking Horse Studio, located in the Chattanooga Bank Building. |