Garret DeChellis – Stories in Moments
BY DIANE MERCADO PHOTOS BY RICK COOPER
A single red ribbon covers the eyes of three young men in a painting rendered in oil by Panama City artist Garret DeChellis.
The young men were close friends during a dark time in American history, racial segregation. The portrait symbolizes a poignant moment in the long life of Panama City Beach resident, Ray Canterberry, an octogenarian who says the painting shows the solidarity he felt towards his friends at Southern Illinois University during the early days of the Civil Rights Movement.
Canterberry remembers the great social upheaval and discrimination toward blacks during his time as a student. He explains that he had served in the Army with a close friend who attended the same college. They both were runners on the track team, but his friend was rarely allowed to compete. Ray Canterberry remains close friends with one of the men depicted and remembers Doc Lingle, then a celebrated track coach, who made sure that all runners were allowed to compete, regardless of their skin color.
“I placed the red line across the eyes of the young men to represent the finish line,” says DeChellis. He used the color red to symbolize the color of the blood all races bleed.
This particular painting is a new approach for DeChellis. His previous art focused on phantasy and fiction motives and his work was published in several well-known publications such as Gallery Books, Famous Monsters magazine, Heavy Metal magazine, Permuted Press, Fantasy Flight Games and several others.
The interpretation of Canterberry’s story was the first in his focused effort to stray away from the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres and produce works that are more “real and organic.” DeChellis says, “I’ve always been attracted to stories. I wanted to tell stories visually because I can’t write as well as I paint. I create a visual story with my paintings.”
Even before beginning to sketch or lift a brush, DeChellis gains a better understanding of his subjects’ personalities, their histories, and their personal character traits. He conducts personal interviews in search of word associations that may translate into artwork. After speaking to Canterberry he focused on the word “race.”
After an interview, he sketches a thumbnail portrait of what he learned and presents it to the client to gain approval for the final portrait. “My work tells the story of who that person is or was. It is something they can keep or pass down as a family heirloom,” Garrett DeChellis says.
No photos were taken, nor did Canterberry sit for his portrait. Yet, Canterberry says DeChellis was able to “capture the essence of one poignant moment in my life, one I remember vividly and that holds great meaning.”
When Canterberry saw the final piece, he was amazed. “The painting does not look like me but it captures the essence of what happened, something Garrett could only know from our discussions.”
Born and raised in Bay County, 30-year-old Garrett DeChellis always knew he wanted to be an artist. He remembers receiving his first easel as a fifth grader. Some of his earliest influencers were American illustrators Norman Rockwell and James Gurney. He finds inspiration everywhere and is influenced by the works of other fantasy artists such as Donato Giancola, Greg Manchess, and Michael Weylan.
DeChellis graduated from the prestigious Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota. He returned to Panama City four years ago with his wife and high school sweetheart, Victoria. The couple has two sons; Ezra, 2 ½ and Finn, 5 months.
DeChellis also earned a degree in software development from Gulf Coast State College in recent years. His time is divided between working as a software developer for a local government contractor, producing freelance projects in the fantasy genre, and creating commissioned art pieces. One day he hopes to be able to focus on his artwork alone.
His new style strays far from previous oil paintings featuring monsters and fantasy characters but, while his motives are closer to real-life, his style remains highly detailed. He prefers working in oil but draws manually and digitally and has worked with gouache. DeChellis says he enjoys working in the fantasy genre but it only reaches a narrow niche of clients and he has so much more to offer.
DeChellis’ artwork is on display at Floriopolis, a community art center in St. Andrews. Other galleries are taking his work into consideration. He also teaches an oil painting class on Saturday mornings at the Panama City Centre for the Arts.
“He’s amazingly talented and it takes a keen observation of his client’s inner lives to produce the in-depth piece he finishes,” his agent, Linda Artman, says. “Not only is he amazingly talented, but he’s hardworking, tenacious, and doesn’t let things get in his way. He exhibits a wide array of talents and a way of painting that reaches into your heart and soul. His work makes you feel like you could be part of the piece in an untypical way.”
For information, contact artist’s agent Linda Artman at (850) 624-7274 or linda@ lindaartman.com or visit the artist’s website at www.gdillustration.com
[author image=”https://www.panamacityliving.com/media/2014/07/Diane-Mercado.jpg” ]Diane Mercado Mouskourie worked as a technical illustrator and graphic designer for 15 years before earning a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from the University of South Florida. Before retiring and returning to Panama City in 2011, Diane spent more than 20 years working as a journalist and copy editor for daily newspapers in several places across the U.S. Through the course of her career she has interviewed people from all walks of life and written many personality profiles. Diane spends most of her time writing for various publications including Panama City Living magazine and enjoys painting, drawing and gardening.[/author]