Chip Holton, QW’s Artist-in-Residence, produced more than 140 large (4 foot by 5 foot and some even bigger!) charcoal-on-canvas sketches for the hotel’s opening back in 2007, one for each guest room. They were inspired by the graphic journal that he keeps. We love them! As we were playing with hundreds of ideas for how to further balance and enhance the guest rooms, we wondered if our guests might enjoy Chip’s charcoal drawings even more if he added color. After he worked his magic on six so we could see if this notion had merit, we became confident that this was a good idea! Over the next couple of years, he will let each drawing speak to him as he romances his way through them. So, I sent the above to Chip to make sure he was comfortable with how I’d phrased it, using the word “romance.” Here is his response:
“Romance is the perfect word. To reopen my relationship with this ten-year-old work is like rekindling an old love. The romance of adding color is to seduce the charcoal into accepting a new garment of affection. This is like a new passion on the tracks of old joys. We are simply continuing the relationship with the creative muse like a promise fulfilled made to an old love.”
As I’ll bet you can tell by his comments, Chip is a joy to work with…and what a talent!