Self-published watercolor artist and gallery owner, William Mangum, has been part of the Greensboro/Irving Park community for over thirty years. In the early years as a commercial artist, he would sit in the window and paint a painting a week. Passers-by marveled at the speed with which Bill finished a painting. Interest in his artwork grew quickly. Over the years, the gallery has relocated and expanded. The current gallery is located at 2116 Lawndale Drive. It has nearly two dozen employees and encompasses 5,000 square feet of gallery/studio space. Mangum's watercolors are visual documentation of life in North Carolina: beach scenes, landscapes, golf vistas, university life (read more here). He has published several books of his artwork and offers other items, like jigsaw puzzles, prints, and notecards. Mangum is the Charles Kuralt of watercolor; down home in North Carolina resounds in every square inch of his artwork. Since 1988, the community-minded Mangum has made winter-themed, holiday cards, donating the proceeds to help the homeless. To date, the honor cards have earned over 3 million dollars for organizations like Urban Ministries. Mangum has been "giving back" long before the concept was a trend!
Here we see a view of Mangum's studio/gallery through the front door on Sunday when no humans were in sight. We chuckled at the posable, wooden model and the "buy art" blocks. Instantly Pixar's Woody from "Toy Story" came to mind. The metal dancer in the background could be "Buzz Lightyear." Maybe things do come to life at "William Mangum-- Decor, Fine Art, Framing," while the artist is away-- especially this time of year. Those of you who follow Greensboro Daily Photo know that we featured a Mangum sculpture last year (here). If you are local, click through and see if you recognize it!
That is a nice shot. Lots in it to look at. I like the mannequin in the background on the right, in a ballet pose, I think.
Posted by: Jack | Tuesday, December 14, 2010 at 11:17 PM
Great step-by-step instructions for the beginner-artist! And lovely photo.
Posted by: Irina | Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 04:11 PM