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Current Offering
"Lunchtime at Price's Chicken Coop"
 About the print
The culinary anchor of Southend, Price's Chicken Coop has been
serving southern fried chicken, biscuits, fries, and slaw since
1962. Price's Chicken Coop has fed generations of construction
workers, residents of Southend, Wilmore, Dilworth, Eastover, and
Myers Park , uptown professionals, busy moms, event planners and
everybody in between. Lines are always long at lunch as cars,
trucks, and light trail passengers empty out into the street and
make a beeline through the door seeking Price's mouth watering,
crispy chicken, fish, and shrimp platters that are served
exclusively to go. And nobody forgets to order a tall glass of
Price's southern style, syrupy sweet ice tea!
This watercolor painting was composed from a collection of photos
taken by the artist over a period of several years. It is a snapshot
of a time before the CATS LYNX line was operational, when the
Charlotte Trolley ( locals call it a streetcar ) left its barn for
the Uptown run, and before the 2009 Duke Energy Center dominated the
skyline. The design roughly features a "W" with Price's Chicken Coop
forming the left angle, Uptown serving as the inverted "v", and the
trolley line forming the right angle. Chase Saunders began the work
five years ago; however, it was so detailed, he put it aside before
returning to it in 2009. It has at least 300 hours of brush time
with a point the size of a sharp No. 2 pencil. The image of every
window pane, brick, person, car and every shoe was painstakingly
sketched and captured.
The painting is reproduced using the high quality gicl'ee process.
What is gicl'ee?
Each print is signed, numbered, certified, and printed on acid free
art paper by Tom Hall, a pre-eminent fine art printer who handles
the work of a number of North Carolina's most prominent artists.
First reproduction in the UPTOWN FROM
series
This print is first of The UPTOWN FROM series. It draws inspiration
from the topography and the hill upon which Charlotte is sited and
from which the Queen City leads the region. Charlotte's skyline is
recognized from as far away as Grandfather Mountain and much like
the great European cities are identified from afar by the prominence
of their cathedrals, Charlotte's skyline has become a symbol of
progress and economic development in North Carolina. As the
Charlotte skyline continues to change, so will the series. Each
piece shows everyday people going about their lives. If you look
closely, you will find that they are observed by the red dog* that
watches and wanders through each painting in the series.
*Where is the red hound dog?
 If you have trouble finding the red dog on this picture, look for
the Trolley. The dog is slightly to the left of the Trolley crossing
the trolley track. He has been drawn irresistibly by the scent of
fresh cooking oil. He is, after all, a dog. And he has high
expectations that he can beg a chicken leg, a back, or some tasty
morsel from at least one charitable soul or dog lover!
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Price's Chicken Coop Restaurant
Camden Rd, Charlotte, NC.
Website
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Steve Price, Price's Chicken Coop
Owner,
posing with his framed print. |
About the First Edition
- Limited Edition
"Lunchtime at Price's Chicken Coop" is a gicl'ee
reproduction, limited, first-edition print. Only 550
prints of three sizes will be featured in this limited
edition. The Executive Edition print is 18" x 23.5" and
only 100 reproductions will be run. The Office-Study
Edition is 14.5" x 19" and only 400 reproductions will
be run.. The Office Wall Panel is a specially-ordered,
gold-framed item measuring 48" x 58" and only 50
reproductions are authorized. When the prints in this
series have been purchased, the First Edition will be
retired.
- Signed
Each limited edition print will be signed in pencil
by the artist in the lower right hand margin of the
reproduction.
- Numbered
Each signed, limited edition print will be numbered
by the artist in the lower left hand margin of the
reproduction. A new sequential numerical series will be
used for each differently-sized print.
- Registered
Each signed and numbered limited edition
reproduction will be recorded in the Artists Log with
the name, address, and contact information of the
purchaser. This information will be treated
confidentially.
- Right of Reservation
Should you wish to reserve the right to purchase the
same series number of the print which you purchased when
another print is offered, you may do so by email. For
instance, if you bought number "25" in this series, you
could reserve the right to buy number "25" when the next
new piece was offered. , e.g. 5/ when new
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The UPTOWN FROM Series
Charlotte is ever-growing and changing. Known as the Queen City,
she was named by her founders for the Eighteenth Century, English
Queen Charlotte. Her towers of commercial power are visible over the
verdant forest canopy that grows from our region's hard red clay.
Charlotte is built on this red clay, a material that only found its
value through the toilsome labor of each generation which settled
here. Charlotte values hard work and continues to welcome and
acknowledge the successes of those who come here to work hard, live,
and play. The UPTOWN FROM watercolor series is a record of the
skyline from locations of human energy. Each print captures a moment
in the times and lives of her people.
The UPTOWN FROM series draws its inspiration from the topography and
the rock hill, once honeycombed with gold mines, upon which
Charlotte is sited. Charlotte's skyline can be recognized from a
distance as far away as Grandfather Mountain over hundred miles
away. UPTOWN is defined by the beltline of interstates and bypasses
crossing over Irwin and Sugar Creeks. Within and adjacent to the
beltline are her lending houses, administrative buildings, forum,
coliseum, churches, stadium, jail, courts, gymnasia, museums, and
theaters. These institutional structures serve as the stages upon
which the rich pageant of life plays itself out.
Each limited edition reproduction features a description of the
history in the foreground framed by UPTOWN in the background. The
original watercolor from which each reproduction is printed took
over three hundred hours to paint. Most of the work is done with a
sable hair brush with a point the size of a needle. Each scene
features people going about their daily lives. In effect each
picture becomes a time capsule of what we are, and in the future,
who we will be. These watercolor reproductions offer a snapshot of
life in the tradition of the Dutch Master, Brueghel who portrayed
everyday people engaged in the comings and goings of life.
The intent of each signed and numbered print is to offer an
alternative to the stodgy, English countryside, hunting prints which
hang burdensomely on home and office walls throughout the region.
The Scots Irish and English farmers who settled here and founded
Charlotte fled the very oppression and privilege illustrated by the
gentry in English hunting prints. In contrast, the works created by
Chase Saunders recognize the extraordinary efforts of ordinary
people and are more in keeping with the traditions of Charlotte's
founding families. One of those traditions was a fierce love of
freedom. Local tradition holds that the citizens of Charlotte and
Mecklenburg County declared themselves independent on May 20, 1775
and sent their Declaration to Philadelphia, a full year before
Independence was nationally declared on July 4, 1776. And that
tradition is still celebrated! So let's give the founding families
their due and celebrate Charlotte with Charlotte Art! |
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