After a real life emergency, artist Terry Cannon is back
Beloved Chattanooga artist Terry Cannon is back in action after a hiatus, and has set up his new studio two doors down from the old Loose Cannon event space.
The studio is open to the public by appointment, and will be hosting a series of art & music events in the upcoming months.
Cannon is best known for his monumental assemblage/collage paintings, in which he creates images using found objects instead of brush strokes. He starts by constructing a canvas with layers of plywood, foam core, scrap wood, and other basic materials.
Using polymer resins, he makes casts of everyday objects and collages them into a larger image. He then colors the works by painting and dry brushing onto the textured surfaces.
Cannon achieved a high level of success with these pieces, quickly rising to the top of the local art world—but all of the triumph in the universe means nothing when tragedy happens.
“Four and a half years ago,” he explains, “I was in my studio making art, and my wife, Deanna, called me and told me she had a spot on her mammogram. She was in a panic, so I dropped everything and went and met her at her doctor’s office. For the next three weeks, it was bad news and more bad news. It was the worst case scenario.
“Deanna is a doctor, so she knew that the circumstances were pretty grim. The basic prognosis was that she would only be here for a year. We kind of freaked out—she had just started her business, we had a bunch of real estate, and were out on a limb financially. I knew that with two kids in elementary school, I really had to focus on keeping things afloat, financially, energetically—my gut told me to take care of what is most important.”
It’s at times like these when one becomes hyper-focused, even setting aside passions.
“I knew that I didn’t have time to make art, because the way I do it, it takes a lot of time—I’m an all or nothing person,” Cannon says. “I packed everything up, put it in storage, and focused on the kids, focused on my wife, and focused on matters at hand.
“You just find a new normal. I was sketching all the time, sketching ideas because I knew that one day I would eventually get back to making art. I used art and sketching as my journal going through this horrible, scary time. My friend Seth Champion who owns Champy’s reached out to me to help him design and build a couple of his new restaurants, which was fun and it helped me have a creative outlet.”
Thankfully for Cannon and his family, the news is much better now.
“Deanna is still here, four and a half years later, and things are good,” he notes optimistically. “I knew for me, and my own psyche, that I needed to start making art again. What is also important for me is showing my kids to be brave enough to use their talents.
“That’s what we’re here to do; that’s the lesson that I had to learn when I started making art professionally, and quit my day job 20 years ago—I knew it was time to have the courage to use my gifts and pursue art. Whatever happens financially, I had to push all of that aside and trust the universe that if I honor who I am and make art, it will be a good thing. I have reached that point again.”
He believes his hiatus from art was a good thing, in hindsight.
“I was all wrapped up with being an artist,” he explains. “I got a lot of my self-esteem from that, a big ego boost. Artists tend to be somewhat selfish and self-centered in order to do what they do, and I’m sure I was that way. The past four and a half years have helped me to have some humility and realize, it’s not who I am, but what I do that is important. I’m just a vehicle—keeping that in perspective and honoring that is important.”
Cannon is once again looking to the future, and the future of his own creativity.
“I create art to make people happy. I just want to get into the studio, see where the spirit moves me, and see where my imagination takes me. Whatever happens to the art after I make it isn’t up to me—whether it ends up in a museum or a dumpster, my business is to honor whatever is stirring in my soul. When it is at its best, coming into the studio feels like a dance with the universe.”
Cannon's studio is located at 1800 Rossville Ave, Suite 4. You can contact him via text at (423) 320-0905.