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Crystal Head
by Mark Nesmith
Oil on Canvas
14" x 14"
2015 |
As an artist growing up in Beaumont, TX and attending Lamar
University it was impossible not to know about John Alexander. Alexander, born in 1945 in Beaumont, earned
his bachelor’s degree from Lamar in 1968 before gaining a Masters Degree from
SMU and teaching at the University of Houston. These of course were all
stepping stones to his move to New York and rise to renown in the art world. Alexander’s work hangs in the collections of
some of the most prestigious museums in the world, and he has had major
retrospectives of his work at the Smithsonian and the Museum of Fine Arts in
Houston.
Though I’ve known about him for half of my life and often
seen him across a crowded gallery (most recently at The Grand Bal at the
Dishman Museum where I have to admit I was thrilled to see my painting
“Somewhere Under the Rainbow” hanging near his as one of the showcase artists
this year), I’d never had the opportunity to actually meet the man. Well as luck would have it, he was in Beaumont this week for
the opening ceremony of the newly named John Alexander Painting Studio at the
Lamar University Art Department, and I finally had the chance to press the
flesh and talk a while with Mr. Alexander.
It’s really a few chance meetings that led to this
encounter. My sweetheart Elizabeth has
been working at the MCM Elegante Hotel in Beaumont for more than a year
now. One of the regulars at the tavern
there is none other than Jim Gilligan, the Lamar University baseball coach and
Texas Baseball Hall of Fame member. Over
the past year I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know coach a little. He’s a lively story teller and a great guy. Turns out he’s been friends with John
Alexander for years. When Coach found
out I’m a painter from Lamar and have never met John, he was determined to
introduce us. I’ve seen coach a few
times over the last month or so and he always reminded me about Alexander
coming in for the ceremony at Lamar and that he was intending to introduce
us. I was touched by the gesture and
thought I should do something in return.
The other piece to the puzzle happened this past week. Elizabeth and I were talking about Coach and
John Alexander and she suddenly remembered that she needed to order a bottle of
Crystal Head Vodka. Alexander designed
the bottle and partnered with Dan Aykroyd to found Crystal Head in 2007, so
they wanted to make sure they had some on hand at the bar. It occurred to me that the bottle would make an interesting
little still life painting and a perfect thank you gift.
I finished the painting the day of the ceremony so it was still too wet to give to him in person. Instead, I took a picture of it on my phone and showed it to Coach Gilligan at Lamar. He instantly grabbed my phone and made his
way across the room to John Alexander and motioned for me to come over. John was surrounded by well wishers, friends,
and representatives from the university and was constantly posing for photos
with someone, but he took the time to talk to me a few minutes and wish me well
with my career. I told coach I would get the painting to him after it dries and
he said he’d have it shipped to John.
I wound up going to the Elegante that evening to see
Elizabeth, and sometime around 10 PM John Alexander stopped by Tradewinds at
the Elegante with a gift for me. He gave
me a hardbound book from his retrospective at The Museum of Fine Arts in
Houston and signed a little note to me inside the cover. We spoke a while about art and Lamar, some
professors we had in common and other artists from the area. He’s a very genuine guy and an entertaining
storyteller himself. It’s not often that
you get to meet someone of John Alexander’s status, and it’s even rarer when
they turn out to be so down to earth and friendly. It’s an experience I won’t soon forget and
was truly an honor, and if I ever make it big I hope to be as gracious and
generous with my time as Mr. Alexander.
