It’s in the blood, all this family creativity, my grandmother, to her children down to the whole family tree.
I’m thinking the most accomplished artist is my second cousin, Leslie Turner, just down the road. Again, it didn’t just happen, there’s a history there.
She comes from a gene pool of amazing parents who led amazing lives and somehow each of their children excelled in their chosen greatness. Dad Sonny Turner, my first cousin, could fix any mechanical device invented without instructions. Once upon a time he flew planes in the Air Force. Then he ran factories in remote places while mom Nancy gathered up clothing, shoes and needed supplies to care for the needy local children.
Nancy has also taught herself how to be a finish carpenter, making kitchen cabinets that would shame any magazine. Nancy then built furniture from scratch, wood to upholstery. No one taught her; she probably picked up a book in the library if needed.
They raised an older daughter, Michelle, who loved horses and all means of animals with a kind heart that nursed injured wildlife.
They lost their only son, Dr. Rudy, a talented surgeon, who healed so many who needed him and died way too young.
I’m having trouble imagining the day-to-day energy of this super smart creative environment where truly anything you want to imagine, create or build is the norm.
So Leslie goes to MSU, takes every art course ever offered, enrolls in ROTC and becomes a lieutenant in the National Guard.
While in college, her best friend was Jane Crawford from Columbus. Jane had a stained glass business and Leslie soon began drawing patterns for Jane, who would then lay Leslie’s paper patterns over a light table and cut the glass.
Eventually, Memphis became Leslie’s home and she settled on stained glass, learning all steps in the production process to allow her to accurately estimate the cost of jobs.
She was given the opportunity to learn how to paint faces on stained glass, a very technical specialized skill, but her instructor said she didn’t need to be taught. She was apparently a natural.
Leslie learned to make fused glass by checking out a book from the library and set about making jewelry and other craft items to show at art fairs. Attending, on average, 30 fairs a year in places like Memphis, Nashville, Ocean Springs, North Carolina and Gatlinburg, she often worked closely with her mom, who built displays or helped her string beads on wind chimes or invent new novel crafts.
She has done just about every form of art there is. Big, bold murals are a hit with locals. Her first was in Rosedale, where she worked with the Delta Arts Alliance.
She is finishing up her latest mural this week at the Broadstreet Park Sonny Brown pool house in Greenwood. Working with the Delta Health Alliance, Leslie submitted her design of children wearing uniforms or doing their future dream jobs. “If you can dream it you can do it.”
Sounds to me like the way Leslie was raised.
