Midtown Memphis

I debuted my newest print two Saturday's ago at the Cooper Young Festival.  It features Midtown in Memphis, Tennessee. 

"Midtown" 11x14 watercolor on paper by Holly B. Johnson ©2012, prints $25 each.

Midtown is where Robert and I call home now and we absolutely love it here.  There are oodles of local restaurants, bars, and shops just minutes from our front door and yet we still have a large backyard and mature trees.  It's the perfect combination for us!  This summer we whooped it up around the neighborhood, and I pretty much featured all our favorite haunts in the painting, plus a few things that are very "Midtown" to me. 

1.  The Cooper-Young Trestle.  Cooper Young is sort of an eclectic neighborhood in Midtown.  It's known for being "artsy" and, wouldn't you know it, I live there- HA!  The entrance to the neighborhood is marked by this trestle sculpture.

2.  Huey's.  Huey's is a local restaurant that serves the BEST burgers in Memphis.  There are now 7 Huey's in the Memphis area, but the Midtown one depicted here is the original.  It's where Robert and I went for a celebratory grub fest when we found out I was pregnant.  Bacon cheese fries with that burger?  Yes, please! 

sculpture by metal artist, Jill Turman

3.  The Levitt Shell.  The Shell has been around since the 1930's and is located in Overton Park.  You can park it on the lawn for free concerts every weekend in the spring, early summer,  and fall.  Picnics, dogs, babies... all welcome!

4.  The Brooks Museum of Art.  The Brooks is the oldest and largest fine art museum in the state of Tennessee.  I interviewed for a job there years ago and they sent me a cold "thanks but no thanks" letter just a few days before Christmas.  Sigh.  It's ok though Brooks Museum.  I'm not mad at you, and I even decided to let you in my painting. 

5.  Central BBQ.  There are a lot of great BBQ places in Memphis (DUH).  But if I had to pick just one place to eat my BBQ for the rest of my life, it would be Central BBQ.  It. is. good.  (Disclaimer- I consider ribs to be a whole different category.  For the very best ribs you have to go downtown- Blues City Cafe, hands down!!)
 
6.  Playhouse on the Square.  The Playhouse is the only theater in Memphis with a resident company of professional actors.  The building I put in the painting is actually the Circuit Playhouse.  The other Playhouse is newer, larger, and located directly next to the Circuit Playhouse.  The Circuit Playhouse is still very much in use.  It just mostly shows the smaller productions.  I choose to paint the Circuit Playhouse as opposed to its sister building just because it worked out to be more artistically pleasing in my painting.

7.  This sign says "Overton Square Parking."  I worked it in to represent all the great restaurants and cool bars at Overton Square in general.

8.  Bike Lane sign.  Bike lanes run all over midtown.  Nice big wide ones that are clearly marked and widely utilized.  People riding bikes on the road make me soooo nervous, but the bike lanes help!    

9.  Young Avenue Deli.  Super great place to eat and/or hang out.  You wouldn't think we'd be able to take Robert's grandparents out for lunch and his buddy out for late night pool at the same place... but you'd be wrong!

10.  The Memphis Zoo.  We love the zoo!  That place is ginormous.  We've been lots of times and still haven't seen it all. 

outside the zoo...

inside the zoo.

11.  Mixed among all the entertainment areas and local businesses are tree lined streets with people's homes.  All the homes in Midtown are old, built in the 1900's - 1940's and the vast majority have a front porch.  One day while I was walking Rusty I counted front porch swings on my block.  Actually, it was easier to count the houses that didn't have one.  There were 3.  So yeah, it felt right adding this element.    

I modeled the scene in the painting mostly after my own front porch, minus Tom Sawyer on a cell phone shown here.

So that's Midtown.  Limited edition, signed prints size 11x14 are available for $25 each.  I also have Oxford, Starkville, and Hernando.  Next up I think I'm going to paint Downtown Memphis.  Downtown is full of cool buildings and colorful sights so it should be a lot of fun!  I'm also looking forward to doing my own hometown, good ol' West Memphis, AR.  It's not quite the treasure chest of subject matter like Downtown Memphis, but it's got its own charm!