Letter from the Editor

Compiling our summer “Fabulous” issue is sweet torture.
It’s sweet because we always learn so much about our community: the depth of its history, the breadth of its interests, the richness of its culture, the sparkle of its people. It’s torture because, well, we’re worriers. We worry about getting it right, telling you something you didn’t already know, and keeping you fascinated. We always guess that if something interests us, chances are, it will grab you too.

Who knew what it took to put together a great sculpture? Did you know there were two Civilian Conservation Corps camps in the county? Have you ever had lunch at Pannie-George’s Kitchen? Do you know the signs that someone might be from Opelika?

You’ll know now.

One of my favorite discoveries this year was the artist Roger Brown. It’s a bittersweet discovery because Brown died too young — he was 55 — about nine years ago.

His artwork is evocative and often charming. I recognized some of it: the painting of Hank Williams, done in an almost comic book style of simple lines and bright colors; another painting of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker in a similar style. When I first saw these paintings, I mistook them for the work of an untrained “outsider artist,” which Brown certainly was not. (This isn’t an insult, by the way. Outsider art is very hot right now, and I love it.) But his respect for the handmade expressions of the Alabamans he grew up with lent an authenticity to these portraits. He wasn’t an art school guy imitating the unschooled. He was expressing something he knew from the inside out.
His brother Greg, also an artist, told me that Roger’s work sprang from his childhood interests, which explained how familiar the pieces felt. Yet the art is without a layer of pretense or nostalgia. Here’s one thing I loved: When Brown paints a window — and he paints a lot of windows — it almost always has someone in it. Houses, even tall buildings, contain lives we can guess at. Just as a child hasn’t learned it’s not polite to try to see inside the picture window, Brown keeps hinting about who’s at home. It reminds me of a walk down the street at night, the borrowed excitement of other people’s parties, the mystery of other people’s dramas.

If you don’t know his work — although no doubt many of you do — the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art has some of his paintings. There are a few books from retrospectives of his work, including Roger Brown: Southern Exposure, with a forward by Lee Gray, former curator at the Lee County art museum. There are lots of resources online. Start at the School at the Art Institute of Chicago Roger Brown pages. There’s plenty to look at.
Lee County is an amazing place. We’ve been touched by the lives of so many people who’ve lived here and passed through here. Brown is one who represented Lee County to the world with beautiful results. Enjoy.