Art has always had a big place the life of Jim Wright of Signal Mountain. Click to enlarge.
photo by Margie Gardner
Jim Wright, a native of Alabama, but a Chattanoogan for over fifty years, is one of our community’s gems – an artist in various mediums, who has shared his talent and gift with many. An artist his entire life, Jim even kept a sketch journal while he was serving in the Army, based in such places as the Philippines and New Guinea.
Sketching or painting has always been a release of emotions for Jim as one can easily sense as you flip through the pages of his journal.
Born in Tuscaloosa, Ala., his father was a construction worker who helped build Wilson Dam and Muscle Shoals. After high school, Jim entered college at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa but was soon drafted into the Army. Jim immediately got a small sketchpad, big enough to slip into his back pants pocket, and began sketching his life – one day at a time.
A picture of his new comrades, the long lines for the medical evaluations, waiting to be shipped out from San Francisco, days on the ship crossing the Pacific – almost each day was chronicled with a drawing. It wasn’t as though he had a set time each day to draw. So much of his time was hurry up then wait. If he had a few moments, he would just pull out his sketchpad, and then piddle with it here and there throughout the day.
After basic training, Jim was first stationed in the Philippines where he helped to clear the jungle and build airstrips. There was much activity there yet he remembers how isolated they all felt. The pressure on the soldiers grew more intense every week. Many of the soldiers buckled under the psychological stress. Jim didn’t know it at the time, but his sketch journal was a sort of salvation. Talking out such frets would’ve been difficult but through his sketches, he could naturally express his fears, his anxieties, his dreams through his art, releasing the clutches of depression and worry that plagued so many others.
They say that a picture paints a thousand words and as you stroll through the book you can easily visualize the bounty of stories that are represented by these quaint scribbles on paper. Most of the sketches were done with just a pencil, though some of the later ones were done with colored pencils and even a few with pencil and watercolor paints. In total, Jim went through five different sketchpads which were more recently combined into one bound book by his wife, Carolyn.
After the war, Jim returned to Tuscaloosa and finished college receiving a degree in art. Soon afterwards, he accepted a job offer by Purse Advertising Agency in Chattanooga where he worked for 26 years. Since then, he has worked freelance as well as with other advertising agencies. Jim married his lovely wife, Carolyn, a reputable artist in her own right, in 1953. He has always found time to indulge his artistic appetite during his off-hours as well. He has taught countless art classes, been involved with the Hunter Art Museum, Senior Neighbors Art Classes, and the Mountain Art Creative Center on Signal Mountain, as well as taught at UTC, and up till recently, taught at Chattanooga State.
His fondness for watercolors is evident when you stroll through his home with exquisite pieces scattered along the walls of his studio. Most of his works have been sold locally to countless admirers, but he has displayed his artwork in prestigious galleries and museums such as the Brooklyn Museum, Hunter Museum, Atlanta Fine Arts Gallery, and the Birmingham Arts Festival.
Though Jim’s latest interests have been in growing and hybridizing the lilies in his backyard, you can see in his paintings and even his backyard, his love for beauty and nature.
Jim, who now lives on Signal Mountain, said, “Art is like a friend and so then I am never alone. It is something that you never outgrow.”
Jim’s drawing table now sits idle as he is dealing with many health dilemmas, but his face radiates joy as he talks about his life and his art. The miracle of art is that it lives on after us, still stirring emotions within the viewer.
Jim Wright and his artwork have indeed left their mark on Chattanooga.
One of the war sketchpads
photo by Margie Gardner