Full disclosure #1: Heather McPherson is Sam's daughter. Sam McPherson is my friend, my daughter's too. Katherine and I are especially devoted to Sam as only music students can be devoted to a favorite teacher.
So of course I went to Heather's first solo show at Get This Gallery last Saturday. I've followed Heather and enjoyed her work for a couple of years. If you are an in-town architecture tourist, you've probably seen her work. She's getting somewhere.
Here's Heather, coat on her arm next to my tall son, getting a lot of attention at her opening.
Full disclosure #2: I was and I am touched by her house portraits, plywood cut to shape, drawn and painted. The houses are all in Cabbagetown.
But they are familiar to anyone from a Southern mill-town, including High Point where I grew up.
Full disclosure #3: I am impossibly sentimental. Heather's houses made me remember.
My mom preferred the clothesline even after she got a dryer.
This summer I searched for my grandfather's house in High Point. I couldn't find it. It may be gone and the neighborhood isn't so hot now.
If Heather could have painted it's portrait, maybe his great great grands could know him a bit better.
Cabbagetown is a going concern, a real community in a house museum.
Folks put their yard waste on the curb every week.
This end of the house has some stories to tell.
You can do color in Cabbagetown.
Heather shows them as they are today, modern living in a century old setting.
Not all evolution is elevating.
It's uncanny to see them this way. The real houses are shoulder to shoulder with their neighbors. Cut out and separated, these could be anywhere in the rural south.
But this is how they look. Heather's paintings ring true to me.
Full Disclosure #4: You should consider commissioning Heather to do a house you love before it's gone. Architect: This would be an extraordinary gift for your clients.
Contact Lloyd Benjamin at Get This This Gallery. See Heather's work there on 11th Street across the from Six Feet Under.
