Tommy Goodman, retired architect, current Town of Carrollton alderman, and successful artist, can now add author to his growing list of credentials. Goodman recently self-published Delta Artist, a book showcasing his career capturing the Mississippi Delta with paint and paper.
“The book consists mainly of photographs of my work,” Goodman said. “And little quotes and things about my thoughts [about the Delta].”
A native of Shelby, Goodman, 73, graduated from Shelby High School and went on to pursue a degree at the University of Mississippi, where he studied for three years. He graduated from Delta State University with a degree in Fine Art. After, he taught art at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Jackson in conjunction with graduate work.
Goodman said he eventually married and returned to school to pursue a degree in architecture from the University of Auburn’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture. After he graduated, he spent the next 30 years as a successful architect before he retired.
In 2006, he and his wife, Libba, moved to Carroll County after his retirement and renovated Hayne Hall, an antebellum home in Carrollton, which he purchased from the late Simpson Hemphill. Once restorations were completed, the Goodmans named the home Lum Reek, after an old Scottish toast, “Lang may ye lum reek,” which translates “Long may your chimney smoke” or “Long life.”
During the home restoration, Goodman also taught architecture at Mississippi State University.
“I didn’t start painting until 2013-14,” Goodman said. “Even though I have all of the fine arts degrees, I never really painted before. This is kind of a second career.”
Goodman said as an architect, when he would create architectural sketches for a project, he added “entourage,” landscape, sky, and human elements to help add scale, depth, and greater aesthetics to architectural renderings. He said adding entourage to his sketches got him thinking about painting outside of architecture.
“I saw an eight-foot lauan door at the lumber company and thought that is what the Delta looks like, long and flat,” Goodman said. “So I bought [the door]. That is what I painted on at first – hollow core doors or wood panels, but they were hard to get around. So I started painting on paper instead.”
Goodman uses a heavy-weight cardstock and uses acrylic paint to paint panoramic views of the Mississippi Delta’s landscape.
“I’d see these landscapes in my head,” Goodman said. “I don’t paint from life, I paint from memory. That is what makes them a little abstract. They are a compilation of images from memory.”
Goodman turned the guest house, The Shady Nook, behind his Carrollton home into his art studio. It is named for his first architecture office in the Belhaven area of Jackson that used to be the old Shady Nook Texaco station. The sign from the station hangs on the west side of the guest house.
Over the years, Goodman’s Delta landscapes and abstract paintings have taken off. He has had several art shows in Cleveland and Jackson, and he is currently preparing for another on February 20 at Brown’s Fine Art in Jackson.
“I’m getting ready for the show,” Goodman said. “I need 15 [paintings] for the show.”
Goodman’s work sells steadily, leaving him nearly nothing in his inventory to show in February, so he has been diligently working in the Shady Nook in preparation.
With the help of Alan Hammons of Hammons and Associates of Greenwood, who was responsible for the graphics and layout of the book, Goodman published Delta Artist to showcase his work as his career as an artist continues to bloom.
The book contains both his Delta landscapes and abstract art, as well as some of his architectural sketches which helped lead him to pursue fine art as a second career.
Before Christmas, Goodman had a book signing at Turnrow Books in Greenwood, and he has two others at Lemuria Books in Jackson and Cotton Row Bookstore in Cleveland planned for February.
For those interested in purchasing Goodman’s book, Delta Artist, it is available at Turnrow Books, Lemuria Books, and Cotton Row Bookstore, and visit their Facebook pages for dates and times for Goodman’s upcoming book signings.
