THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 15, 1994 TAG: 9412140201
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SMITHFIELD LENGTH: Long : 190 lines
SIG DASHIELL, AT 93, isn't quite as spry as she once was.
Until just a few months ago, the matriarch of this small, historic town on the Pagan River would stride down the street at the same time each morning to join friends for coffee at the Twin's Restaurant on Main Street.
Today, she depends on some of those same friends to drive her the couple of blocks from her home to the daily gathering place.
But Dashiell's image while she was still practicing her daily constitutional will remain fixed in time forever now, on the pages of The Smithfield Coloring Book.
She is just one of several local faces in the 32-page book that could bring Smithfield distinction as the only town in Hampton Roads - maybe the only town in the state - with its very own coloring book.
And already, hot off the presses, the coloring book with old St. Luke's Church in brilliant colors on the cover, is a best seller.
Dashiell, author of another book, ``Smithfield, a Pictorial History,'' is pictured in the coloring book standing on Main Street in front of the restaurant where the popular morning coffee clutch is held. She's talking with another local, Helen Betts.
And those are not the only local faces depicted.
Children dressed in period costumes are flocked in the gazebo behind the stately Berryman-Hart mansion. The house was built by a peanut magnate around the turn of the century. The faces of the children, like others in the book, are recognizable.
Local Chamber of Commerce director Connie Rhodes is shown in front of the old courthouse, built around 1750, and just down the street stands Tourism Bureau director Diane Howard.
Perhaps the catchiest sketch of all, and maybe the hardest to pick up, even for locals, is the driver and passenger in a Model-T Ford tooling by the Smithfield Antiques Center, passing their mirror images cast in bronze.
The statue is one of two placed in the town by Joseph W. Luter III, Smithfield Foods chief executive officer. Its official title is ``The Valentine,'' taken from a greeting card the woman holds in her hand. But locals have dubbed the two elderly lovers simply as ``John and Mary''.
The coloring book is being sold in Smithfield and surrounding areas for $4. Proceeds from the sale go to Christian Outreach, a unique consortium of churches of all religions that have come together in Isle of Wight County to help provide decent housing for underprivileged residents.
The Christian Outreach idea started with a proposed soup kitchen to help raise funds to pay fuel bills for the needy. Rather than feed the needy, however, the churches involved in the early days of the effort about four years ago decided to sell homemade soup and use the proceeds to help keep them warm during the winter months.
The soup sale, dubbed ``Souper Saturday,'' has become an annual event, and the services provided by Christian Outreach have far surpassed original expectations. The group now involves numerous churches of every race and denomination.
In addition to paying fuel costs for needy citizens and helping to improve housing, Christian Outreach also sponsors a dental program for needy senior citizens, community programs for youth, summer fun festivals and a Christmas House project that provides holiday gifts for senior citizens.
But there was a need for money to support all of these many projects. And inside the back cover of the coloring book, Christian Outreach president Joseph Spratley offers a special thank you to Fred Glanville, one man behind the unusual idea.
The other man behind it is the artist, Norfolk native David Narvaez.
Narvaez, 43, is one of 10 children born into a Navy family. From the time he was a child, he said, he knew that art would hold a dominant place in his life. And he believes that he made an early decision to be different.
``All of my brothers and sisters are righthanded,'' Narvaez said. ``I draw and I eat with my left hand. Everything else I do with my right hand. I think it means I was struggling to be the best artist I could be. Art is like breathing. I can't do without it.''
Narvaez said he discovered the artist he considers his mentor, Michelangelo, while in high school when one teacher offered an art appreciation course.
``Her course set me onto fine arts,'' Narvaez said. ``That's when I started picking up books on drawing and sculpture and architecture and patterning my work after them.''
And he discovered the other renaissance masters he admires. Since then, Narvaez said he has been driven in his art to someday compare with them.
Narvaez was working toward that end at the Contemporary Ballet Theater in Williamsburg when Glanville spied one of his small watercolors in a business associate's office. Glanville, who is a steel salesman and operates a small framing business on the side, was so impressed that he made an effort to meet the artist.
The natural progression of the association brought Narvaez to Smithfield to sketch the old homes and buildings in the historic town in northern Isle of Wight County.
``At the ballet, I was sketching children as they practiced and working on promoting two large paintings I did of the ballet as limited edition prints,'' the artist said. ``I came to Smithfield at Fred's invitation, to sketch the historic homes, to sketch on the sidewalks.''
That's when Narvaez told Glanville about his idea to do a coloring book to raise funds for the ballet. The ballet project never got off the ground. But Glanville was an organizer, a promoter. The coloring book partners started talking about the Smithfield project in early spring.
By early summer, a committee had been formed to decide who and what should be in the coloring book.
``I thought it would be neat to show the historic nature of the town,'' Glanville said. ``Then it sort of changed to include, I guess, the ambiance of the town, with the fishing pier, the Christmas parade, summer concerts.''
It evolved into a celebration of the quality of life in Smithfield, Glanville said.
From the beginning, the project proceeds were earmarked for Christian Outreach.
Glanville had been involved in the organization since its inception, when he served first as chairman of the outreach committee at Christ Episcopal Church, where the organization that now offers so many helping hands began.
Another church, historic St. Luke's, was selected to go on the cover because, Glanville said, ``I don't know. It just felt right.''
The decisions for Glanville and his committee came easy. The coloring book offered some special challenges for the artist.
``I suggested some figures should be in some of the pictures to give a sense of scale,'' Narvaez said. ``Recognizable faces? That was a little of both me and Fred. He had some people he felt should be in the book. I told him as long as he could arrange to get the people to me, and I didn't have to go looking for them, I could work with it.''
Narvaez soon learned that the coloring book presented one unique problem that he had never before encountered. Instead of having to worry about shading and texture, he had to concern himself with leaving space to actually color. One artist had to back off so that other artists could continue.
``I knew, that to put in shading, it would have been hard for colors to show up,'' he said. ``I had to keep that in mind. It was a different way of thinking about forms. Too many lines close together in ink would make the whole building look gray, and many of the houses, like the Gwaltney House, are bright. It meant generalizing some of the shapes.''
The Gwaltney House, one of the town's most frequently photographed and sketched because of its Victorian architecture adorned with turrets and tiles, was sketched on location, Narvaez said.
``The intricacy of the trim was a very difficult thing to capture,'' he said. ``Smithfield Station was another hard one. I had to complete the lighthouse when it still wasn't completely built. I had blueprint drawings to go by.''
And blueprints were pulled from history to draw several of the scenes, like the old movie theater. Nobody in town could decide when it actually closed. Narvaez searched through newspaper microfilm at the local library to determine what movies were playing at the time. In his coloring book caption of the theater, Elvis Presley's ``G.I. Blues'' is a coming attraction.
The project was completed and 2,500 first-edition copies printed with little investment. Narvaez was paid for his work and printing costs covered through donations from page sponsors. Local business and individuals sponsored all 32 pages.
``Christian Outreach didn't put a dime out,'' Glanville said. ``We only had to sell the pages one time. I felt that we'd have no problem selling it, and I was right. It is a hot item on the Christmas list for people with any connection to Smithfield. Many people have bought 10 or 12 copies.''
So far, the venture has been a success for the charitable organization. Glanville said he feels it will continue to succeed through three or four more printings. And he's already talking with some other organizations in the area about similar projects, organizations outside of Smithfield.
Narvaez said he has enjoyed having his name connected with the project; he's enjoyed autographing the first collection of his artwork.
The artist calls himself a dreamer, a non-conformist, and maybe that's what it takes to turn fine art into a coloring book, as unique and upscale as it is. He thinks of the book, he said, as ``the glorification of Smithfield.''
``It comes from those Italian renaissance masters who created to glorify their cities,'' he said, smiling. ``I constantly worked to see that it would be something people could be proud of. In coloring books - on a scale of one to 10 - it's a 10!'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos and color cover photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
[Color cover photo artist, David Narvaez]
Fred Glanville, a steel salesman and owner of a framing business,
was part of the braintrust that came up with the book, which
features St. Lukes Church in brilliant colors on the cover.
Artist David Narvaez, a Norfolk native, says he was inspired by the
works of Michelangelo in choosing a style that he uses in various
media.
The award-winning painting, left, by David Narvaez is evidence of
his talent, but he quickly learned that the coloring book presented
one unique problem that he had never before encountered. Instead of
having to worry about shading and texture, he had to concern himself
with leaving space to actually color. One artist had to back off so
that other artists could continue.
David Narvaez calls himself a dreamer, a non-conformist, and maybe
that's what it takes to turn fine art into a coloring book, as
upscale as it is. He thinks of the book, he said, as ``the
glorification of Smithfield.''
by CNB