Phil Chandler - local Folk artist, composer, musician

"They were the old guard - WWI and WWII vets," Chandler said. "They all had character...Every day they'd gather on the old courthouse lawn to swap knives, play checkers, tell stories and talk to each other or (talk to) nobody at all. One of their wives called them the "Dead Pecker Club" and the name stuck...I went down there a lot when I was young. They were all trips."

A Barrow native, Chandler has a deep love for the land in this area. Nodoroc, once a bubbling mud pit and the purported site of Indian rituals and sacrifices, is on his land. The Wog, a legendary creature that looked like a bear or a boar, but had red eyes and a long snake tongue, was also rumored to live on his land back when white settlers first came to Barrow County.

Chandler has painted Nodoroc and the Wog, but mostly, he said, he goes "down there to sit and draw or paint. It's a great place to do that - so quiet and peaceful, plenty of wildlife."

THE MUSICIAN
Chandler is best known locally for his music. He grew up in Winder and went to Winder-Barrow High School. While there, he and several of his best and now lifelong buddies started The Full House Band, which became popular and played for years, becoming legendary in its local status.

"That was back in 1967," he said. "It was me, Ernie (Graham), David (Kelly) and Johnny (Doster). We had a lot of fun, played a lot and wrote a lot of songs. We had no idea we'd still be getting together to practice and play on Friday nights when we got to be this old; and, we still have fun doin' it."

Chandler's primary instrument is the piano and keyboards. Over the years, he has written "hundreds and hundreds of songs."
THE ARTIST
"Cat" said he's been drawing since he was "a lil' bitty shaver." He started painting with acrylics six years ago. He credits his aunt with teaching him to draw.

"I stayed with her while my parents worked," he said. "Back then, the yards were all white sand and they kept 'em swept with those ole' stick brooms. After my aunt finished sweeping, she'd draw old biplane airplanes for me, and sometimes the alphabet. I'd copy what she did, then she'd sweep it clean and we'd draw something else."

Like all Folk artists, Chandler has not had formal art training. He calls what he does "Primitive Folk Art" and said he paints "animals, trains, cars, old houses, covered bridges, cowboys, clowns, stories, situations, the state of the universe,...I don't think anything's sacred (topic-wise); some of it's pretty off the wall."

While two of his favorite subjects are airplanes and trains, Chandler said his "biggest sellers" are red trucks, red tractors and roosters.

"For some reason people love those red trucks and tractors; and, women love roosters for their kitchen," he said. "It's always a surprise, what folks like and what they buy."

Chandler did a series featuring the characters from the Uncle Remus stories and he has a collection of paintings of guitars that "end up with people's faces in 'em." One features Elvis Presley, another Michael Jackson.

"Sometimes you start a painting with one thing in mind and it morphs into something entirely different," he said. "I'm never sure what I'm going to end up with until it's done."

Chandler said he does not restrict his work to canvas, but also paints on wood, metal and "just about anything else that strikes my eye." He also paints murals and sculpts. He uses Bondo, "because it's easy to work with and durable." He took some sculptures of a frying pan, with eggs, bacon and grits in it, painted in bright colors, to an art show and "those things sold like hot cakes."

Chandler's work is featured in several Folk Art galleries, including Around Back at Rocky's Place, in Dawsonville. Locally, it is on display and for sale at The Principal's Palette in Winder, a gallery and gift boutique owned by Lynn Graham Hammond, a retired educator, local artist and the twin of Chandler's good friend and band-mate, Ernie Graham.

"I'm not making a fortune by any stretch of the imagination," Chandler said. "But it sells pretty good."

INSPIRATION AND PERSONAL CHALLENGES
Chandler said he "loves capturing the character of things or telling a story" in is work. He keeps inspired by "moving a lot" - "wandering in the woods, getting out and talking to people, driving my (1970) Mustang." He also credits his friend Ernie Graham with "giving me good ideas. He's got a good head on him." Ideas often come to Chandler in the middle of the night, so he gets up and does a sketch or records the beginning of a new song.

"It's good therapy and Lord knows, I need good therapy," he said.

One of the ongoing challenges in Chandler's life began just after he retired, after working 28 years as a safety director for Thrall Car (a train car manufacturer once located in Winder.) It was 1998, he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, and he has struggled with the illness and the medications he must take since. He describes Parkinson's as "just another challenge - something to whip. I have good days and bad days."

In 2002, Chandler was dealt a devastating blow when Cindy, his wife of over 20 years, was stung by a wasp. She suffered an allergic reaction which triggered a brain injury that left her paralyzed; she died a while later, at the age of 45. Chandler remains visibly saddened by the loss of his wife. He said he "turned to the painting and the music" to try and deal with his grief.

"I wrote songs about her and painted pictures of her...I still, do," he said. "That ole' piano, it'll laugh with you and it'll cry with you, too. My favorite song of all the ones I've written is about my Cindy."

Grief, he says, "like everything else, is a challenge...It's the way you approach it. You can roll over and let it consume you or you can fight it, whip it and go on to something else." Chandler says his art and music are his ongoing way to deal with his grief and physical challenges, which continue to provide his inspiration.

UPCOMING
Chandler is slated to have some new medical procedures and try a new Parkinson's treatment. If these are successful, much of his physical discomfort will be lessened. He is hopeful about that.

For his next major painting, he said he's "been thinking about doing something on Richard Russell - maybe a painting of him campaigning with the old courthouse in the background. He talked with his hands a lot. I'd like to capture the spirit of that...maybe with a crowd of people all listening to him and waving their arms, too."

Chandler said he would like to do some murals on public walls and in private homes. He also plans to write his first book, "The Life and Times of the Bethlehem Hunting Club." It will be a compilation of real life stories, jokes and anecdotes generated by his hunting buddies during his hunting days.

Of course, he says, he will continue spending time with his three grown children, Barry, Christine and Andrew Jackson, as well as the new apple of his eye, his one-year-old granddaughter, Audrey. And, while he has no plans to paint her, Chandler said, she may inspire a song to two.

And, there's his music...Chandler keeps adding to his self-generated song library, sometimes at a furious pace. "Now if I could just sell some of those songs...," he says, wistfully, with a wink and a nod.