Win Crannell's Shared Story
What's Your background?
My father was a builder and he had me do some of his drafting since I took drafting in high school, the drafting teacher was also the art teacher and she thought I might enjoy her classes. My older sister followed the same route.
Working in NYC was a very important period in my life, I spent a great deal of my spare time in the museums and galleries, so when I thought about going back to college, I decided I wanted to major in art. My BA degree is painting with a minor in art history and my MFA is Printmaking with minors in art history and Italian literature. I spent two semesters in Florence, Italy from 1965-66, that was when the Arno River flooded Florence and the FSU and students from other study centers worked for a week helping to clean up the city, we became known as the “Mud Angels”.
What Does Your Art Say and How Does it Comment on Social or Political Issues?
While in Italy I did many drawings dealing with Dante’s Inferno, since I spent a great deal of time reading the Divine Comedy, many of those drawings and ideas from them were in my graduate show. That might me the only time I was making some sort of a statement, unless some of my cartoons about the Great Society fit into that category?
I am a very political person, but I want my art to be enjoyed for what it is, not what it says. My drawings are my personal feelings for whatever I might be working on, but I leave politics out of it.
I just want viewers to enjoy the images and maybe make them wonder how I do what I do, especially when some of the large drawings take 500 hours to complete.
Who Are Your Biggest Influences?
My high school art teacher, Mrs. Marston, got the ball rolling, then many of my college professors were also important in my development. Most of them worked on their personal art when they were not teaching, and allowed their students to watch them work, something that I included in my teaching. When I started to work realistically there were many artists I studied closely, Andrew Wyeth was one of them along with many of the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist. When I got into print making, Durer and Rembrandt were two of the early influences, but there were many more later.
How Have You Developed Your Career?
My first year at North Georgia College in 1971, I joined the Atlanta Artist Club through some of the members I learned about weekend art festivals. I started to do local shows, but from other artists I learned about the major shows that take place in Florida during the Winter and other shows in the North during the warm months. I developed many artist friends who were very helpful in informing how to enter the shows, I found the many of the shows were difficult to get into, but as my work developed and improved, I was being accepted in the shows and winning awards and selling both prints and original drawings.
For quite awhile I did thirty shows a year as well as being a full-time teacher. I started to slow down when my children reached the age that I could coach them in sports, but I still did a few of the major shows and museum shows that I was invited to. I also judged art festivals from time to time. I also placed art in a few galleries, but that can be risky if you do not know who you are dealing with. The fact that I made prints of many of my best drawings I was able to sell my images at a very affordable price to people who might not be able to afford an original. Many of the younger people I sold prints to bought originals later, after they became better established.
What Advice Would You Give Students About Opportunities?
Open every door you come to, there is no telling what might be on the other side.
How Do You Cultivate a Collector Base?
Selling prints at shows and to frame shops helped me a great deal. Creating art that people want to hang in their homes also helps. As I mentioned I was not into political art, I wanted to create images that buyers would enjoy having in their homes. There are artist who want to make personal statements through their art, but I got a better feeling selling work, it is equal to scoring the winning touchdown or sinking the winning basket to win a game as the buzzer sounds.
How Do You Navigate the Art World?
Not sure, create the best work you can and have knowledgeable friends critique your work. I had a couple of very good artist friends, and we would look at each other’s work and would give honest opinions on what we were looking at.
Which Current Art World Trends Are You Following?
I used to when I was teaching art history, but now I play golf, fly fish, read and watch sports live and on TV, especially when my grandkids are involved.
Life would be very boring without art, especially when viewing art you might not understand. I used to teach elder hostiles, the first two works I would show were Pollock’s “Autumn Mist” and Wyeth’s “Christina’s World”. Husband and wives would argue on and on about the pieces, which one was harder to do, which one was better, on and on, until I would interject my thoughts and give them other things to think about.
Do You Have Links that Feature Your Work?
On Facebook I present drawings that I’m working no so viewers can watch how I go about working on a drawing. I have sold a few drawings by doing this. Because I have been selling art for over 50 years, buyers will occasionally post a drawing they have bought or one that is similar to one someone else has purchased, this creates interest in my work.