Wednesday, August 02, 2000
Pig Parade: Country Ham Pig
Artist hams up love for country music
By Owen Findsen
The Cincinnati Enquirer
This is 96th in a series spotlighting pigs from the Big Pig Gig Public Art Project taking place in Cincinnati, Covington and Newport. Find past pig profiles and event details at Cincinnati.com/bigpiggig
When Lynn Rose paints in her studio in the Pendleton Art Center, she plays country music. And she plays it loud. “The artist in the next studio constantly plays Italian opera, so I play country music to drown it out. She's never gotten the message, but now I'm nuts about country music.”
Ms. Rose, who says she is “18 in pig years,” created two pigs, “Wake Up and Smell the Bacon,” on Vine Street at Piatt Park, and “Country Ham,” the pig she loves best. A full-time artist, Ms. Rose, of Hyde Park, will exhibit her work starting Oct. 12 at Malton Gallery.
Sponsor: Hiltz Family.
This pig's pen: Piatt Park, downtown.
You were inspired by: This is a family pig, and the Hiltz family really got into this pig. Their son, Andy, loves country music, so he got to pick the hat, the belt buckle, and give me ideas about colors.
What's the pig idea? For me, he's a young Elvis, with the long sideburns.
You want people to look at this pig and think: Don't think. Sing.
Completing the project took: About a week.
What's the matter?: Acrylics, a cowboy hat, a big belt buckle and a guitar.
Your high on the hog was: Working with Sarah and John Thompson, in Florence, Ind.. They are doing the preparation work on a lot of pigs and two pigs of their own. She's a sculptor; he has a body shop. They are people who really care about their work.
Pig peeve: I'll be really upset if somebody steals the guitar. I can't get another one, so if it goes the pig will have to play air guitar.
Best pig tale: Finding the guitar was the hard part. I went to Will's Pawn Shop but they didn't want to sell me a guitar to paint. It was a beautiful guitar. I had to beg, and because I dated the owner's son in high school, he finally let me buy it. He even gave me his cowboy boots to put on the pig, but I couldn't make them fit.
My favorite pork dish: BLT sandwiches at the Echo in Hyde Park.
What artistic movement most affected the outcome of this pig? It's my own style, which is sort of whimsical, narrative, autobiographical, allegorical, musical, off-the-wall and over the moon.
The materials cost: My two pigs cost $1,500, more than I made. But then I'm an artist so I always end up broke.
If your pig starred in a movie, who would you cast to play the role? An Elvis imitator. No, Elvis himself, since he's really alive.
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