You know what we need right now? Happy little trees
Remember Bob Ross? I'm pretty sure you do. He was the soft-spoken, puffyhaired guy who hosted “The Joy of Painting” on PBS from 1983 to 1994. Even for those who believed they had no talent with a paint brush, he could shepherd them through from a blank canvas to a completed painting in 30 minutes. For the artistically impaired, he was a miracle worker.
Ross died of complications of lymphoma in 1995. But in recent years, he has come back into the public eye in a big way. In 2015, Twitch streamed a 9day marathon of “Joy of Painting” that was reportedly viewed by 5.6 million viewers. The series is still available on Amazon Prime Video. A year later, Netflix began streaming a second Ross series called “Beauty is Everywhere.”
Add to that the many parodies of Ross' distinctive style – and hair – and Ross continues to have a major star presence in popular media.
Ross was many things during his lifetime; a master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, a high-school dropout, a medical records technician and a part-time bartender. One thing he wasn't, though, was a quilter.
So why is it that one of the year's most eagerly awaited quilting shows is called “Bob Ross: Cherrywood Travelling Quilt Exhibit”?
First, you have to know about a small company called Cherrywood Hand Dyed Fabrics. It's a seven-woman operation in Baxter, Minn.. In 2014, in an effort to expand the reach of their products, they launched a themed quilting contest called the Cherrywood Challenge. “Wicked” – the musical – was that first year's theme. Entrants were
limited by size – 20-by-20 inches – and a color palette of lime and black. The results were spectacular, with the finalists displayed in the lobby of the Broadway theater where “Wicked” was running.
Each year has had a new theme and color palette; “The Lion King” (2016), “Van Gogh” (2017), “Prince” (2018) and finally, in 2019, Bob Ross. Next year's competition has Princess Diana as its theme. You have until Dec. 31 to enter.
When Cincinnati fiber artist Susan Austin learned about the Cherrywood exhibitions, she was determined to bring them here.
“I thought The Barn would be a fabulous venue for it,” says Austin, employing the nickname of the Woman's Art Club Cultural Center in Mariemont. “The size was right. And we had already had some success there with fiber arts.” So, with a handful of fundraising events and the sponsorship of a pair of local quilt shops, she was able to bring “The Lion King” quilts to town.
More than 1,200 people attended, making it one of best-attended shows in
The Barn's history. Now, the Cherrywood exhibitions have become a regular piece of The Barn's seasons.
Then came Bob Ross. Now, you have to understand that there are some people in the world of fine arts that don't regard Ross as an example of artistic excellence. Let's just say that, in their eyes, Ross isn't the sort of painter The Barn should be exhibiting.
Lynn Long had heard the comments. As The Barn's director, she was the first to catch some flack when the Bob Rossthemed exhibition was announced as part of the schedule.
“I remember one said to me that Bob Ross' art didn't live up to our high standards – why were we showing it?” she said. “But I told her that, as far as I am concerned, anyone who can get so many people to look at art more closely and pick up brushes and try it themselves has a place here. We are very pleased to have this exhibition here.”
In addition to the quilt exhibition, The Barn is also offering four classes led by Cincinnatian Gary Waits, a Bob Rosscertified instructor.
Waits spent more than 30 years with Procter & Gamble before retiring in 2017. He and his wife had already been painting for nearly 20 of those years. They'd even taken a few classes in the Bob Ross style.
“But when I retired, we decided we wanted to get Bob Ross-certified,” said Waits, whose schedule is now so filled with teaching commitments that “retired” hardly seems an accurate way to describe him.
The couple immersed themselves in weeks-long workshops to learn not only the intricacies of Ross' “wet-on-wet” technique of oil painting, but also the visual style that came to constitute a “Bob Ross painting.”
“Bob used to say that when you paint landscapes, there are no mistakes,” said Waits. “The point is that if your tree is crooked, that's fine – nature has crooked trees, too. It's the same theory with mountains. If your mountain is a little flatter than someone else's, it doesn't matter. As a painter, nature gives you lots of leeway.”
There are many other secrets to achieving the Bob Ross look, particularly the use of Ross' “liquid white” paint and his trademarked brushes made from Chinese boar bristles.
But much of Ross' success stemmed from his onscreen warmth. Where many television hosts assume the persona of a brash showman, there was a sincerity about Ross' approach.
“He was very positive in the way he communicated when he talked to people about their paintings,” said Waits. “That's part of the magic of Bob Ross painting. You're not there to make a masterpiece. You're there to have a good time. I try to carry on that same attitude.”