Stand on Rocks; Paint Ocean

Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2015/04 - April

Randy Anthony’s first commission was at 15 years of age. That sale cemented a lifelong dedication to painting and sculpture. Decades later, his collectors span the entire Southeastern United States.

But it wasn’t the commission that plunged him into the arts. His artistic eyes were opened nine years earlier, when he was only six. His dad, a preacher, moved his family from Ohio to South Georgia in 1956.

There, Anthony met a nonagenarian who had studied with the great French Impressionists in the late 1800s. She showed him how to stand 10 feet away from her work to experience the detail invisible up close. All at once he saw the world differently. That epiphany launched his art career.

By fourth grade, he and another young artist became the go-to kids for all the school murals and stage scenery. By his own admission, his times tables were sacrificed for the sake of art. But if the competition came down to building a tree log out of cardboard and tempera, he’d beat the best of any nine-times-niner.

By the age of 12, Anthony was cast in a school play as a reclusive artist. His non-speaking role: stand on rocks and paint the ocean. Unbeknownst to anyone, Anthony really was painting an ocean scene. By the final performance his work was unveiled. Another success.

School officials may have liked Anthony’s artwork, but they and he didn’t always see eye-to-eye. At 15, he was wrongfully accused of something, and that was the final straw. With his family’s support, he dropped out and went to work.

Noting her son’s artistic ability, his mother enrolled him in The Art Institute’s home study program, which honed his drawing skills while he worked his way up to a position at a sewing factory. There, the seamstresses recognized Anthony’s talent and hired him to paint portraits of their children at a dollar apiece. He was also developing a fascination for carving and taught himself how to carve links of chain out of a single piece of wood.

He eventually wound up in the military, doing his service stateside and in Vietnam. He hadn’t much time for artwork, but his muse still beckoned. After discharge, he began hooking up with others who showed professionally, all the while working a regular job. He got married, raised his kids, and eventually was able to support himself and family doing nothing but woodcarving.

With the support of patron C.L. Moorehead (whom many of you may recognize as the sponsor of shows at The Bascom, including his African artifacts and Lamar Dodd collections), Anthony was well on his way to a successful sculpture career.

Along the way, he took up scrimshaw when polished tusk and bone were legal and available. Its rarity got him a lot of recognition. He began a wholesale art business. He could get all of his scrimshawed medallions into a briefcase instead of the usual trailer needed for his sculpture, though he still continued designing and carving wooden figures until unscrupulous dealers stole his work, turning out copies cast in resin, made in China. It was too expensive and time-consuming to take them to court, so he began making larger pieces difficult to duplicate.

To see more of them, visit artistsites.org/randyanthonysculptor/ and artworldbeat.com/profile/88/Randy+Anthony. E-mail him at [email protected]. His work is also exhibited in Tsartistry Gallery in Franklin.