Haston?s artwork reaches ?Crossroads?
Local artist and former Circuit Court Judge Charles Haston Sr., will be gracing TV screens across the state this week when he makes an appearance on a segment of ?Tennessee Crossroads.?
The popular public television show, according to its Web site, says it ?travels the highways and byways of Tennessee, highlighting the personalities, crafts, places, foods and events that make Tennessee special and its character unique.?
The program will air this Thursday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m. on Nashville Public Television, Channel 8, and will have an encore presentation on Sunday, Feb. 25 at 10 a.m.
A story in the Southern Standard in September 2006 about Haston and his art apparently brought him to the attention of the program?s staff, who contacted him and asked him if they could visit his home in Warren County and tape an interview about his beautiful and incredibly detailed artwork, which many find quite surprising since the self-taught painter has never had a lesson or attended any art classes.
Haston says he wasn?t sure what to expect, but found the taping an enjoyable experience and is looking forward to the broadcast.
?It?s just great,? Haston said. ?Kind of intimidating for an old country boy, but I think it?s fine.?
Haston says he was impressed with the professionalism and friendly attitude of the ?Tennessee Crossroads? crew.
?I enjoyed it,? Haston said. ?I thought it was fascinating, very interesting. The thing I found most interesting was the time and effort it took to do all that stuff. I thought they?d pull in, maybe stay around for 30 minutes, you know, for a 10 minute segment, but I was fascinated by all the hard work that went into it.?
Haston says he was happy to appear on the program, in part, because he feels it highlights positive aspects of Tennessee with the stories it covers.
?Peoples? idea of Tennessee is sometimes so different from what the truth is,? Haston said. ?People anticipate or have preconceptions of what we are, and we?re not that way at all. I think it?s important for people to see that we do things that they might not expect us to do. I?m really glad they came up here and visited us in Warren County. They were very impressed by the scenery and how pretty things were.?
Haston also said it was encouraging to see a positive story about Warren County and he was glad to be a part of that, since the community has so much to offer, but seems to get little attention for those aspects.
?I don?t know why but even years ago things kept popping up about Warren County on the evening news,? Haston said. ?And, of course, that?s still happening. So I think it?d be nice if people looked at us with a different view. Really, there?s so many marvelously talented people down in this neck of the woods.?