THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 26, 1995 TAG: 9503250034
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 110 lines
DUDE AND TAOISM are some of Norfolk painter Clayton Singleton's favorite words.
Everybody - women included - is a ``dude.''
And all the synchronistic events in his life - especially those that have propelled his transformation from slacking teen to rising art star - he lumps under ``Taoism.''
Raised in Park Place, Singleton, 24, has been receiving a rush of kudos for his bright, expressive paintings since he entered the professional art scene in late 1992.
Two peak moments in his burgeoning career occurred at the Stockley Gardens Arts Festival, held each spring and fall in Norfolk's Ghent neighborhood. In May, he was awarded a purchase prize. In October, he hit his stride with best in show.
Starting Saturday, Singleton's latest paintings will be featured in a solo exhibit at Das Salon, a funky beauty parlor in Norfolk.
(The show's opening coincides with the First Annual Hair Ball on April 1, featuring food, dancing to two deejays, and a cash bar from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Proceeds benefit Hope House Foundation, sponsor of the Stockley Garden art shows. Tickets are $8 in advance; $10 at the door.)
Singleton lives in the attic rooms of his mother's house in Norview Heights. Downstairs, all is attractive and orderly. Upstairs, enter Singleton's paint-splattered milieu.
On Tuesday, freshly painted unstretched canvases were draped over a banister like damp beach towels. Walls bore Singleton's versions of Henri Matisse and Jackson Pollock compositions. Even the carpet was mottled with paint.
More canvases were stacked around the cramped space, which could be the artists' garret set for the opera ``La Boheme.''
One by one, Singleton brought out his recent works. He propped each against a wall, then stepped back to examine it.
``This is one of my favorites.'' The canvas showed a woman in a wedding gown playing a purple cello, her face full of feeling.
Singleton, it turns out, studied cello from the fourth through the ninth grades. He imagines the woman is performing ``Berceuse,'' a lullaby by the 19th century French composer Benjamin Godard.
The lullaby suggested to him a narrative of a couple - who get together, split up, then reunite.
``Then, the music slows up. To me, I feel like the male left by his choice. He didn't meet her at the altar. It ends with a fluttering off, without a trace.''
Next, he pulled out works from his new series, ``My Family, My Life.'' The paintings are his interpretations of family photos from his grandmother's stash. Comparing his reference photos to the paintings, it's evident that the photos are only a starting point.
``This is the one that just got finished last night,'' he said. ``I'm kinda happy with this one. It's cool.''
The canvas depicts Singleton, his cousin and siblings in a plastic pool in his grandmother's back yard. His tendency toward an expressionistic palette is seen in the lawn, a fiery array of yellow, red, orange and, sure, a little green.
``Oh, man. That's flavor,'' he stressed. A plain green lawn by Singleton? No way. Too boring.
A portrait of his late grandfather shows him napping in a lawn chair. In the near foreground is a boxing glove, symbolic of the man's boxing past.
``Dude was cool,'' Singleton said of his ``granddaddy.'' ``He would, like, box with me in the driveway. Told me about knowing Joe Louis in London.''
He pulled out some photos he was anxious to paint - one of himself and his brother as kids, dressed alike in plaid suits for Easter.
``I really want to have this series done for Stockley.'' He plans to show only his ``Family'' series at the festival, set for May 20 and 21.
Singleton is African-American, as are most of the figures in his paintings. But he only recently began depicting natural skin tones.
Previously, his figures were allegorical characters, symbolizing traits or moods. Faces might be orange or green.
In a late 1994 painting, titled ``Depression and Anger Fighting Over the Rights to His Mind,'' the character of depression is blue and the figure of anger is purple.
At that time, Singleton was coming out of a long-term relationship with a girl prone to depression. ``And it was always (coming up) in my work.''
To his way of thinking, the relationship was ``like Taoism'' - meaning, ``there's a purpose behind it.'' Even still, ``it was so depressing to be in it.'' Art has given Singleton a sense of identity and purpose. He had always drawn and made art, yet he entered Virginia Wesleyan College as a math major. In his junior year, he switched to art ``because I got bored with math.''
Adding a fifth year of studies, he graduated in spring 1994 with an art degree and a teaching certificate. Within months, he received four job offers to teach art.
Desiring to teach in his hometown, he works at two Norfolk elementary schools - Bowling Park and Ingleside. ``My classes are kind of erratic. Hyped. Got a lot of action.''
It's a great feeling, said a beaming Singleton, to run into parents with whom he went to high school. ``And they go, `You! You're teaching school!' ''
Sure, he had a slightly wild side. Nothing too radical. A few food fights. And slacking on his studies, so he wouldn't be classed a brainy nerd.
Nowadays, he appears unconcerned about what folks think of him. The big guy with the upbeat, confident demeanor is actually studying flowers.
He's interested in flowers for their symbolism. He has painted daffodils, representing ``false hope.'' And he has placed a lotus blossom in his work, signifying laziness.
Expect neither bud to show up in a self-portrait of this Taoist dude. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
TERESA ANNAS
Clayton Singleton, 24, teaches art at two Norfolk schools. ``My
classes are kind of erratic,'' the painter says. ``Hyped.''
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY ARTIST by CNB