Mr. Ralph Spencer was my biology teacher at EC Glass High School in my sophomore year. This was when Lynchburg City Schools was beginning to close Dunbar High School (our separate but equal HS) as a high school and fully integrate all the public schools. As an artist, this decision was of paramount importance to me. Mr. Spencer was one of the kindest, most caring people I have ever known. He worked at Leggett’s at the Plaza in Lynchburg for a second job, and somehow made the acquaintance of my dad. So every time the family went shopping at Leggett’s, Mom would reach a point where we were all getting ready to go, look around and say, “Jon, go get your Dad. I’ll guarantee he’s in the men’s area talking to that nice Mr. Spencer. Don’t you dare let him get Mr. Spencer into trouble. Your Dad does like to talk.” Off I would go and invariably the two of them would be laughing about something.

After he left Glass he went to Heritage HS (where I later spent fifteen years teaching art) and was an administrator, teacher, coach, jack of all trades. When the old building was torn down, by sad happenstance, his portrait was not removed from the walls to follow us into the new school. One day our school secretary, Jackie Hoffman, asked me if I could recommend someone to do a portrait of Mr. Spencer to be hung in the entrance to the new field house. I answered, “How about me?” So I was allowed to do this portrait and I can see him now, talking about biology with that smile on his face, that first year I was in HS, one of the kindest people I’ve ever known.

An acrylic painted version of the Beatles album Let It Be. This painting which is about 3’ by 3’ in size traveled all over northern Virginia as a stage prop for my brother-in-law Mark Lindamood’s Beatles tribute band called Apple Core. When it came back to me after the band stopped using it, it took me exactly a week to manage to damage it. No damage for months of travel, but I managed to damage it. It wasn’t major and I fixed it up good as new, but I find it ironic that in the studio I damaged something that wasn’t damaged during months on the road. I originally trained as a photo retoucher under German instructors/bosses. Their attitude when you told them something was wrong was, “…you are a retoucher, fix it.” A great way to learn your trade.

This is available.

Another Beatles album cover. This was painted on canvas using acrylics, then each portrait and the text was carefully cut away from the background and a 3d backing was built using foam core and modeling paste the exact size and shape of each portrait and the text. The depth of each piece was based on the relative locations of the figures, so Paul and John are at one level, Ringo and George another and the background canvas is the lowest level. The text is also raised in this manner. Once finished, my friend Jerry Dudley, who was our building trades teacher, made a sort of box frame for it, we stained it and polyurethaned it, and then dropped the art into the frame. Dropped implies it went in easily. The frame was built so perfectly the art slid in and was snug even without the brass screws I used to anchor it. See following photo for a glimpse of the depth.

This is available.

These photos should give a better view of the 3d nature of this. This is available.

Approximately 3’ by 3’ acrylic on canvas painting of the Beatles iconic Abbey Road cover. This is available.

Painted in acrylic on canvas, approximately 3 ‘ wide. Each portrait is built on a foam core with modeling paste base in relation to their front to back poses in the original photo.

Private Collection.

16” wide by 20” tall acrylic on board. My teammate Jim Noon at Lynchburg College back in the early to mid ’70’s. Fine soccer player and good friend. Jim commissioned this as a gift and I was honored to do it for him.

Private collection.

18” wide by 24” tall acrylic on board of my coaches at Lynchburg College when I was playing soccer. Cannot say enough good things about either of these gentlemen. Inspiring leaders who gave me a chance to play with absolutely great teams in the early 1970’s.

Private collection.