The annual Christmas Market at Olde Mecklenburg Brewery kicks off this weekend, this year with two locations. The event promises over 40 local vendors over four weekends at both its original site and the brewery’s new Ballantyne location that opened earlier this year.
One of those vendors is local artist David French, who has been painting Charlotte’s landmarks for nearly two decades.
French was a student at Central Piedmont Community College in 2006, when a professor encouraged him to venture outside of the classroom for artistic inspiration. The family-owned restaurant, Athens, was just behind the campus and was about to close, making way for more development. French took a chair and sat in front of the restaurant, painting what he saw. People who walked by that day stopped and were amazed by his work.
That was the moment when he realized what he wanted to paint – the iconic places in Charlotte that people loved.
People often have a special connection with the city they live in or grew up in, and as an artist French was able to provide a memory that people can take with them. “That is what the people want to see: themselves and their lives in their city,” says French.
The location of this first painting was fortuitous. For 43 years, Athens served as a classic diner and popular late-night stop on the edge of Uptown. “Everyone loved that place,” says Patrick Richardson who writes the Charlotte Eats blog. Athens was open 24 hours, serving a variety of Charlotteans, and Richardson says French captures the place perfectly. “The memory of Athens lives on through his paintings,” he says.
French has a very specific mission in his work. “Stop thinking what you want to do, but ask what they want to see, and that will lead you to success,” he says.
It seems that people like to see the old Charlotte and the skyline the most. Over the past few decades, Uptown has changed drastically with new skyscrapers, high-rise apartments, hotels and more restaurants. For French, it provides an opportunity to paint something new all the time. But you won’t find a single painting of a chain restaurant in his studio. “They are not unique – they are not Charlotte,” he says.
In his private studio in NoDa, French has more than 500 different paintings of Charlotte and draws between 30 to 100 drawings a year. His original paintings can cost anywhere from $500 to $3,000 dollars, but people can grab a print for only $10 to $200 dollars. In addition to local shows and events, you can also find his work at NoDa’s Pura Vida and Paper Skyscraper on East Boulevard or in the Overstreet Mall uptown. He has also exhibited at Festival in the Park every year since 2007.
John Goble at Paper Skyscraper says that it is important to support local artists, especially in today’s world of mass-produced items. For decades, the gift shop has welcomed Charlotte’s creative community with open arms. “Most people buy the paintings as a gift for someone,” says Goble. The store also sells artwork from Chris Hood, another painter from Charlotte known for more playful depictions of the city’s skyline.
Among the many paintings that French has created over the years, he has captured Latta Arcade on Church Street, the Thirsty Beaver bar, Lang Van, Amelie’s, Cabo Fish Taco, Alexander Michael’s, Bird Song Brewing Co., Connolly’s, Bank of America stadium, Bojangles Coliseum and the Spectrum Center. His work shows the magic of Charlotte by highlighting the daily lives of city’s residents and the places they love to go.
There is still one thing French hopes to do in his career. His dream is to paint his wife in one of his paintings of Charlotte. He says it is something that he would likely not sell but keep for himself.
Fabienne Gnos
Reporter (she/her)
Queens University News Service
