Gerry Furgason Blogs

Once upon a time, I diapered babies. I taught those babies to talk and walk at an early age. With love, I taught them to laugh and play. Along the way, they learned to use their hands creatively. I taught them to pray. I scrubbed floors, p... 

When I ran into an artist friend in a hardware store years ago, he told me he was shopping for an extra lock to put on his studio door because he was tired of relatives looking inside and describing his area as “disgusting”, “deplorable”... 

Artists and craftsmen, on purpose, become great respecters of shelves as a protective means to organize all the seemingly insignificant objects that they consider necessary to carry out creative endeavors. There is a method to their madness of... 

BONNYMAN BOWLING CENTER-CAMP LEJEUNE The Furgason children were in the habit of bringing home local, regional, and state bowling trophies while living in North Carolina. They perfected their skills on Saturday morning trips to the Bonnyman Bowl... 

Kernen Christmases had always been held dear when my father was young because the three boys and one daughter lost their mother at an early age. The children were reared in the family saloon by their father and they looked forward to the hol... 

I was proud to think of Walt Harned as one of my “art brothers” during my outdoor exhibition years. Looking back, it seems like I have always known him. He was the kind of soul who blends with your life and whose laughter will not ever be far ... 

The print, 'Kernen's Falls Autumn' came about because Aunt Adrienne and Uncle Frank had no children. The print was meant to carry on the Kernen name beyond our time. To repay them for backing the publication of it and the two other prints offered... 

During Christmas time, when our Falls City Community Art Gallery was located in the Lower level of Founders Square, local arts and craft shops donated prizes for our “Most Creative Christmas Tree Ornament Contest” for children. Whe... 

Jacob Link was proud of his home in Highland Park. He had added several rooms to the existing structure, built a smokehouse and added a workshop to his back yard. In the passing years, his children would play on a swing hanging from the pear tree th... 

The family Grocery Store business had been sold and my father, Aunt Frances and Uncle George were working in nearby Franklin, Indiana. The plan was for all of us to spend the summer months at the nearby camping site of Sugar Creek. So following her s... 

How do other people pattern their lives?” I often wonder about that as I notice someone picking out apples at a produce aisle or parking a car in a busy shopping mall lot. From experience, I have learned that I do not see the same way as a lot o... 

I drove our brother, Paul to the Hospital Emergency Room at the Hospital in Jeffersonville, Indiana the last day he was with us on earth. He sat beside me in the front seat. I recall glancing over at him and our eyes met. We were both concerned abou... 

In 1947 she came to the United States from Italy as a War Bride. Louisville, Kentucky had been her new home for thirty years. During the last ten years, she had been enjoying the camaraderie and prestige that participating in local art festivals and... 

A blush of burnt sienna on distant horizons compels artists to rummage around in stacked-up corners and pull out extra brushes and palettes. Creatives prepare for spring outdoor painting sessions as soon as that blush is observed and they are sure t... 

One of my most entertaining ways to help support our non-profit Gallery when operating funds were difficult to manage, was the engaging world of face painting. Over the years I painted all ages from sleeping infants (a photo of my hand and brush st... 

Years ago, because many of the Marines recently killed in the Iraq War came from Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, President George W. Bush went there to be with families and friends of the fallen men. As he spoke at the Base, I found myself standing ... 

I do not recall what costume my beautiful Aunt Doris wore to the Halloween Party on her date with my Uncle-to-be, but I will never forget meeting him for the first time and how he was dressed for the occasion. I answered the knock on the McKay Str... 

Because my Uncle Jake Link was named after his father, he was sometimes called “Junior” and sometimes addressed as “June” His bedroom was at the back of the 4435 Crittenden Drive Home, just off the kitchen.I thought the most fasc... 

“But, Louisa! We didn't know she would swallow the Penney!” No amount of apologetic stuttering could dissuade my mother from heaping blame on her contrite cousins. After Sunday family dinners on Crittenden Drive, the men were accustomed to ... 

Zack was four years old when he asked to sit up in my art van. I grimaced as I knew that was almost an impossibility. But he was an innocent child and did not know the hazards his request could bring about in a vehicle I found comfortable but others... 

During the Second World War, Winston Churchill sat at his easel staring at a blank canvas unable to begin a new work. A ladyfriend, seeing his dilemma, walked over, snatched away his brush, made several hasty broad swipes on the canvas then demanded,... 

WALT DISNEY-ART HERO In this "Year of a million dreams", was most fitting to pay homage to a gentleman artist whose work brightened the childhood years of many generations. Scattering his magic throughout the lives of old and young alike with the ... 

A blush of burnt sienna on distant horizons compels artists to rummage around in stacked-up corners and pull out extra brushes and palettes. Creatives prepare for spring outdoor painting sessions as soon as that blush is observed and they are sure to... 

Simple phrases often become an adage for generations to respect or rally around, but sometimes deserving quotes are forgotten and through non-use, fade away and are all but lost until an appropriate moment necessitates a recall. We were going ... 

Whenever I hear the melody of "My Favorite Things", it is my mother I see and one small brown paper package I recall. During the Korean War, I happened upon a scene that has remained with me for decades and I replay it in my mind during every... 

Years ago, the summer after I graduated from Presentation Academy, I packed my bags and climbed onto a Greyhound bus destined for Miami, Florida. Erastus, Aunt Gertie, and Uncle Jess were living there and I was welcomed to spend a week in the south... 

It was nighttime and my family was sitting in the living room of the small bungalow where we lived near our Poplar Level Road Grocery Store. Blackout shades were down as there was to be an air raid practice that evening. I recalled from the days li... 

Being a mother hen to a bunch of artists and craftsmen is no small task. If you don’t believe me, try it sometime when you happen to be bored. I guarantee life will change for you. .At any rate, it was part of my life’s journey and I am glad I... 

Years ago, a few days before Christmas, three-year-old Amber Leigh declared she knew Santa would bring her a doll buggy so that she could ride her much loved little family around the rooms of the little red brick cottage on Chestnut Street. After ... 

Whenever I drive out Dixie Highway and pass the Southwest Government Center I have to smile because once upon a time our Southwest Artists group was involved with a Parade to celebrate the opening of the Center. The police in the Center frowned ... 

As if having tinnitus is not enough, I have acquired the seemingly dedicated services of a small, green, noisy cricket. I know this small green cricket is green because it landed on my arm and I was so shocked that I was unable to shoo it away befo... 

Jacob Link was proud of his home in Highland Park. He had added several rooms to the existing structure, built a smoke house and added a workshop to his back yard. In the passing years his children would play on a swing hanging from the pear tree th... 

I had skated alongside my Grandfather Link’s home, made the turn at the backside of the house, and coasted to the doorway of his shop. He was standing inside at his anvil, tapping a metal plate to the bottom heel of my Grandmother’s shoe. T... 

Although it would help me in later years, when Lisa saw me reach for a pencil and my yellow legal pad, her lips pursed and she said, “We don't do it like that.” When I look puzzled, she continued, “We type as we write. You will get used to i... 

Before a session with a new oil painting student begins, I explain that each should select a subject, that when finished as a painting, would be nice to hang on a wall at home or in an office. I met Anna Marie at a Senior Citizen Center. Her c... 

Ed Hamilton and G.C. Coxe were the two Black artists who shared studio space across the Courtyard at The Cloister when Ray Schumann made his commercial mark on Louisville, Kentucky’s East Chestnut Street. Our Community Art Gallery was housed on ... 

I met Joe Murphy while he was doing masonry work on a friend's building that stood on Louisville, Kentucky's downtown Chestnut Street. As it turned out, Joe had worked for my uncle's Brick Laying Company and had many stories about those days and the ... 

In the years when our nonprofit Art Gallery was known as The Falls City Community Art Gallery, it was housed as a guest of the City of Louisville in the lower level of Founders Square when the unique glass-enclosed structure was located in a park-lik... 

JUDD STABLES Highway 42 leads out of Louisville, Kentucky towards Prospect, Kentucky. The drive is scenic and an energizing way to start a day. I enjoyed each morning ride taking D.J. to work at the Judd Stables and hauling my easels and pai... 

We were watching a TV program and the scene shifted to a mother and small child sitting on a bed, their hands folded for nighttime prayers. There were no bunkbeds in the scene, but for a moment I stood beside a wooden ladder preparing for our nightl... 

Every time I see a Tarc3 Bus in Louisville, Kentucky, I think of Ron Billings and his wife, Ruth. In my estimation, Ruth should be listed under a “Saint” category in any address book because Ron is listed under a “Jokester category. Of course h... 

In the years when artists and craftsmen had to stand on their spot in order to claim it, I found my first years at the Saint James Court Art Show as ones, not unlike the great gold rush days. The first year, my paintings and easels were dropped ou... 

I was proud to think of Walt Harned as one of my “art brothers” during my outdoor exhibition years. Looking back, it seems like I have always known him. He was the kind of soul who blends with your life and whose laughter will not ever be far awa... 

I cannot think today of a world without Syl Buckel. He was a neighbor who lived nearby in Audubon Park, an artist with whom I shared studio space at The Cloister and a friend whose smile made the backbreaking Picture Hanging Days at The Kentucky Stat... 

After Show Visitors walk away from the line of arts and craft booths along a city street, the flurry of activity that then transpires is calculated and precise when vehicles pull up to the curb and exhibitors begin packing up for the journey home to ... 

I had already poured out my brush rinse water and stood up to clear my face paint tray after a long St. James Court weekend. When the economy went south and large painting sales were reduced, I sat down to paint faces, Some of my friends scoffed at ... 

In trying to understand why I came to rely on myself as a trusted authority in large and small matters, I recalled that I had been reared Catholic. There were no counselors on every street corner, but there was one every Friday of the school year... 

THE OUTHOUSE When one of my students mentioned receiving a commission to paint an outhouse, I smiled, not because I knew the work would make an attractive addition to someone's bathroom wall, but because it brought back an episode from my chi... 

When I was four years old, our family sold its two-story Preston Street store in Louisville, Kentucky, and purchased the small grocery on Poplar Level Road. We at first lived in a one-story bungalow a short distance from the store. Fox’s Hard... 

When the economy years did not provide large painting sales,I looked around and found a new avenue for earning revenue. When my art friends scoffed at the idea, their bank deposits following booth show takedowns did not reflect the totals t... 

Uncle Jake had joined the Navy and the family was riding in the car taking him downtown to the train station on Broadway. I recall watching Uncle Jake's dog, Tops run alongside the car. After a while he stopped running and went back to the house on C... 

“But, Louisa! We didn't know she would swallow the Penney!” No amount of apologetic stuttering could dissuade my mother from heaping blame on her contrite cousins. After Sunday family dinners on Crittenden Drive, the men were accustomed to en... 

Gone are the days when my ambition was to grow up big enough to “sack” items at our family’s grocery store. I recall my Mother’s horror stricken expression as she swept me out from behind the counter after someone mentioned, “Well, she coul... 

While pinochle players sat around their card tables at Senior House on Thursday mornings, oil painters were hard at work at easels in a private room. I was a new art teacher at Senior House and was told works would be displayed at an annual art sh... 

On a recent trip to mail packages, I passed by Camp Taylor Ball Park. Located on Poplar Level Road near the Watterson Expressway, in summer it is still the scene of teams and spectators just as it was when my Uncle George coached youth ball players d... 

FROM THE THIRD FLOOR In time we were able to move our work area to the first floor student lunchroom, but in the first years that I taught Oil Painting in the Adult and Continuing Education Classes as part of the Jefferson County program at Seneca H... 

IROQUOIS AMPHITHEATER The summer after I graduated from the Eighth Grade at Holy Family School I worked selling tickets for the Louisville, Kentucky’s Iroquois Amphitheater’s summer musical productions. The ticket office was located on B... 

UNCLE FRANK AND AUNT ADRIENNE On Tuesday mornings, Aunt Adrienne and Uncle Frank made their way from their home on a hill area out Highway 42, down to the little red brick cottage on Chestnut Street in Louisville, Kentucky where oil painting class... 

After a recent conversation with a young man concerning having children in the home, it dawned on me why Aunt Doris, Aunt Annie, Aunt Sis and Aunt Adriane treasured the company of the McKay Street Kernen girls. They had no daughters of their... 

When I sat in commercial art classes on the University of Louisville Campus, I never dreamed I would end up in North Carolina with the task of painting a Highway Billboard. At the end of Sunday Mass, Rev. William G. Wellein made the announcement, ... 

In the years when artists and craftsmen had to stand on their spot in order to claim it, I found my first years at the Saint James Court Art Show as ones not unlike the great gold rush days. The first year, my paintings and easels were dropped out o... 

I learned about critics early in my art career. We had a "Crit Club" here in Louisville that met each month on U of L Campus.(afterwards, we would all go to Masterson's and trash the critic.)The critic that month was the owner of an art gallery and a... 

“Gerry, hurry! You have to see this!” My brother, Paul tugged on my arm and then hurried ahead of me out behind our McKay Street garage where the rabbit hutch stood. He had secretly dug a hole in front of the hutch then covered it over... 

Fear of White space. During the Second World War, Winston Churchill sat at his easel staring at a blank canvas unable to begin a new work. A lady friend, seeing his dilemma, walked over, snatched away his brush, made several hasty broad swipes on ... 

So I was sitting at my Director's desk in the Community Art Gallery on The Cloister's second floor. It had been a quiet morning until a gentleman walked in and pointed at me, yelling, “YOU!!”. I felt like I was the unwilling partici... 

DOWNTOWN CHESTNUT STREET I met Joe Murphy while he was doing masonry work on a friend's building that stood on Louisville, Kentucky's downtown Chestnut Street. As it turned out, Joe had worked for my uncle's Brick Laying Company and had many... 

When our non-profit Gallery moved from its Chestnut Street location at The Cloister to Louisville’s Founders Square our name changed to “The Falls City Community Art Gallery” and we prepared to meet new audiences. We were guests of the Cit... 

BULLIES, CRITICS AND DAYDREAMS The summer after I completed the first grade I spent several weeks at my grandfather Link's home. Our family went "over home" for Sunday dinners on a regular basis Relatives who joined us around the green table in t... 

Simple phrases often become an adage for generations to respect or rally around like "Remember The Alamo!" , "Meet Me In St. Louis!" or "California or Bust!" Sometimes deserving quotes are forgotten and through non-use, fade away and are all but lost... 

The last time someone said “Lady you can’t do that” to me was years ago. That occasion involved constructing a swinging gate. So I stood there thinking about the gate and the fact that I made it work when the contractor repeated his delivery, t... 

PROSPECT ART SHOW What would Aunt Theresa think? Here I was curled up in a sleeping bag on the hard ground of a country hill just before dawn. I recalled how comforting Aunt Theresa's feather bed was after my sister J... 

CHICAGO ART SHOW The road trip to Chicago was uneventful until our convoy of artists reached the Dan Ryan Parkway. Mickey Hackett had made arrangements for Revella Coffman and myself to participate in the summer show and was in the lead car with... 

In 1947 she came to the United States from Italy as a War Bride. Louisville, Kentucky had been her new home for thirty years. During the last ten years she had been enjoying the camaraderie and prestige that participating in local art festivals and c... 

While setting up their booths at weekend outdoor exhibitions, artists engage in conversations ranging from what new work they will present during the show to favorite recipes from family holiday gatherings. My favorite memory of an exchange was mo... 

CRITICS Back in the years when I painted in the living room on the first floor, I worked feverously to finish a work before the next weekend's art exhibition. One more painting was always needed to fill up a show display. My companion in this deter... 

Living with cats is a noble but sometimes hazardous endeavor. Not only do they own you, but they know it. Penelope walked through some broken fence slats into my backyard and life several years after I took possession of a red brick cottage on L... 

After a recent conversation with an artist friend about the importance of artists receiving acclaim for their works, I wondered which reception has been the most important to me. Purchase awards and ceremonies with speeches and ribbons flashed throu... 

The Cloister Community Art Gallery was incorporated by three art groups in the Louisville area. The Crit Club, The Palette Club and the Southwest Artists joined in making the non-profit organization a recognized participant in Ray Schumann's endeavor... 

Not having a vehicle this week, I found myself sitting on my cane/chair on a rainy day this week waiting for my ride. This was my last Doctor's appointment for the week. My waiting times have turned out to be productive times. I think about times ... 

THEODORE M. WANDZILAK, M.D. One never knows what adventure awaits when following the insistence of a Primary Care Doctor. so, unbeknownst to me, this week I arrived at the Poplar Level Road office of Theodore M.Wandzilak,M.D. prepared to spend a q... 

Not everyone with professed intelligence knows what they are talking about so when told to follow their dictates and arguing is not an option, it is sometimes best to smile and wait for them to turn and walk away before continuing on your selected co... 

Looking forward to small milestones has held my life together and sitting tiny reminders on a shelf has helped me focus on what I have achieved or remember what lies before me to accomplish. Some people do not need such reminders but I do. Some peopl... 

Birth Certificates listing Kentucky in the Place Of Birth section may not have "candidate for Derby Fever" typed in small print but all such documents might as well have that phrase spelled out in bold letters. Every Kentuckian understands and accept... 

Years ago, a few days before Christmas, three year old Amber Leigh declared she knew Santa would bring her a doll buggy so that she could ride her much loved little family around the art classrooms of the little red brick cottage on Chestnut Stre...