As early as elementary school, they knew without a doubt that they were artists, these men and women whose work now enhances buildings in Fuquay-Varina. The artists we interviewed describe a deep knowledge that they were called to point people to beauty, to spread joy, to capture moments in time through their work. And that is exactly what they have done in our town.
Dan Nelson
(As told to Valerie Macon)
“Unlike many artists who dash in and dash out, I come into the city to broadcast peace and joy, to shift the atmosphere,” artist Dan Nelson says. His vibrant En Plein Air painting (2013 1st place winner) brightens the atmosphere of Fuquay-Varina outside The Brick House Bar & Grill on the corner of Fayetteville and Durham Streets. Dan is a performance painter who uses two hands to paint En Plein Air paintings five times larger than the norm, performs music, and is a live wedding painter—just to mention a few of his artistic pursuits.
As early as kindergarten, Dan called himself an artist. He credits his dad, whose hobby was art, as his inspiration. And although he had only taken one art class, all the way through school he was considered the class artist. He has had no mentors but does have people he admires and emulates—Maxfield Parrish and Rembrandt, for example. In college, he initially majored in music, then in his junior year, switched his major to art. But he found the art major not very helpful to him. He was interested in realism and expression of beauty as opposed to self-expression. He went on to seminary where he earned his master’s degree. His career has been divided between music, art and ministry.
His artistic experience is extremely widespread and varied. A professional artist at age 18, he worked his way through college as an illustrator and continues today as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. He has dabbled in cartooning, calligraphy, theater set design, and portraiture. At age 50, he embarked on becoming a fine artist, his favorite subject matter, cityscapes; and he continues painting cityscapes out on the streets. Also, for the last 10 years, his career path has been a wedding painter. Dressed in a tux and using two brushes, he paints weddings real time, a business he says fits him well.
Dan is also a remarkable multi-instrumentalist. He discovered a knack for learning new instruments and plays the harmonica (blues harp), whistles (Keltic and Irish), flute, trumpet, fugal horn, French horn, saxophone (tenor and soprano), guitar and ukulele. He built a case on wheels that holds all of his instruments, 50 of them, and performs outdoors in downtown Raleigh. On Friday nights he sets up his instruments and shifts the atmosphere of Raleigh. He calls it “Joy in the Streets.”
Jeremy Sams
(As told to Valerie Macon)
Elliotts Pharmacy, a fixture on the corner of S. Main and Depot Streets and popular destination for its soda fountain and lunch counter, recently closed its doors after nearly a century of service. But fortunately, in 2013, artist Jeremy Sams captured Elliotts Pharmacy on canvas in the Fuquay-Varina En Plein Air competition, an annual event sponsored by The Fuquay-Varina Downtown Association where artists from across the region represent the beauty of Fuquay-Varina on canvas. Sams’ painting, now especially meaningful for its historical significance, is displayed on the wall outside the closed doors of Elliotts Pharmacy.
Sams was six years old when he won his first drawing competition, and this was when he figured out he had a gift. He has been drawing all his life, but when a high school art teacher inspired him to paint, it was then that he fell in love with color. He officially started his career at age 18 painting murals at the High Point Furniture Market, which led to doing side work on his own. Although he did not attend art school, he surrounded himself with good artists, visited galleries, painted with people who were much better than himself, watched videos, and read books on landscape painting.
He learned how to paint quickly using a photo, but he felt that there was a lack of life-quality to the finished work. In February 2011, he took his paint and easel outside to a little creek behind his house and had a good time with this. With lots of outdoor practice he “became addicted” to painting on location. He says, “Being able to rely on the senses to look at things and abstract them down to two-dimensional form transformed my work.”
Having grown up on the Uwharrie River, his favorite subject matter is water—rivers and creeks. He finds the movement of water, the reflections, and the rocks peaceful and calming. He loves when you can see through the water. He loves the mountains and often paints near Ashe County, Smokey National Park, and in Watauga County. He also enjoys the challenge of portrait painting.
Sams likes to capture the details of a moment in time. He says, “Mud puddles, cityscapes, telephone poles all make for interesting compositional elements and are preserved for a day when these elements will be no more.” And in 2017, Sams was awarded 1st place for his Fuquay-Varina En Plein Air painting, Holland Produce Stand, where he portrays the nostalgic scene: the sunlight and shadow working its way across the yard and up the side of the rustic old produce stand, a man and small boy at the building, and a vintage truck parked out back. Holland Produce Stand is displayed on Depot Street across from the former Elliotts Pharmacy.
Sams also has a ministry where he paints in churches, bringing a gospel presentation in visual form illustrated through his art. He also likes to get out on the street to talk to people, teaching through visual art. He wants to direct people to true beauty. He has a Christian world view that we have an incredible Creator and tries to point people to the Creator. He says, “There is more to life than all the suffering, so much more than that; and through my painting, I try to point people to true beauty and true joy.”
Galina Stockstill
(As told to Roberta Clayton)
One of the good things to come from Covid is the ability to meet so easily using Zoom. That’s how Roberta got to visit with Galina Stockstill in Russia, where she had returned to help her mother through illness and aging in a town along the Black Sea.
The Russian education system has focused schools to develop youngsters in specific talents and abilities. From the age of 10, Galina knew she wanted to study art, so she was sent to a special art school near Sochi, Russia, on the Black Sea. “I had great teachers who taught me how to see beauty and how to enjoy beauty.” She was an only child who became an art teacher to children, even though she had not aspired to teach. Some of her students have since become artists themselves. What could be more satisfying for a teacher?
Galina came to the U.S. and married the man who had been a building missionary in Russia when they met. Her home in the U.S. is Raleigh, but she has only good things to say about her experience in Fuquay-Varina. “People are helpful. It’s a small town but something special. It is a wonderful community.”
“The En Plein Air competition attracts very good artists,” said Galina. “Fuquay-Varina did a good job—the best.” Her contribution was an acrylic composition that sold at auction. She tells herself, “You were born for this.” It gives her such joy that she puts her heart into it. “I like to sell and to give away.”
Her works are in many countries including Korea, China, Japan, Croatia, Ukraine, and Finland. They include oils, acrylics, pastels, and small sculptures. “I would like to study more art and to experiment more.” During the En Plein Air experience here, she said, “I met some very good artists.”
Scott Nurkin
(As told to Roberta Clayton)
Scott Nurkin was still in elementary school when he asked his mother for art lessons with a private teacher. She was happy to make the arrangements; and he did not receive a lecture about starving artists. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and then a master’s from UNC-Chapel Hill, which included study at the Lorenzo de’ Medici School in Florence, Italy.
Scott did an internship with Michael Brown in Chapel Hill, parting amicably at the end of a three-year apprenticeship. He also went on tour as a drummer in two different bands, in between painting murals. He now runs his LLC, The Mural Shop, which he has built up over the last 11 years. His work is found in many towns throughout North Carolina, including downtown Fuquay-Varina. He answered a call for proposals in 2018 and was hired by the town to paint the mural on the brick wall of our Arts Center.
The installation features three prominent features of the town. First, the healing waters of Fuquay Springs, then the railroad through Varina Station, and third, the little one-room schoolhouse now preserved as one of the museums at Centennial Park, just up the block. Scott has employed many methods over the 21 years of his painting career, including project and trace, freehand, and fine lines with fill-in of a grid transfer. Painting directly on the brickwork, he uses acrylic paint with a clearcoat that protects his installation and allows for a decade-long guarantee.
Scott enjoys what he does and seeks out opportunities to boost the pride and knowledge of NC residents. He began a series in 2020 called the NC Musician Murals Project (www.musicianmuralsproject.com), which features musicians of influence, painted on buildings in their hometowns. This allows him to combine his artwork with his love of music and broaden his appreciation of various musical styles and genres. There are currently twelve musician portraits located all over the state including Roberta Flack, Earl Scruggs, Don Gibson, John Coltrane, Nina Simone, and Thelonious Monk. Yes, painting murals can go on even during a pandemic. Thanks to Scott, our heritage looms large.
We are especially grateful for the work of these and the many other artists who have captured the history and charm of our rapidly changing town, and in doing so, have beautified Fuquay-Varina.
