Cheatham provides painting used in book cover
Holmes Community College Fine Arts Chair, art instructor and local artist Jay Cheatham recently provided artwork used on the cover of Yazoo City native Robbie Roberts' book entitled "Tales from Yazoo and Beyond."
Roberts' latest book is a collection of stories from his life growing up in and around Mississippi and the Yazoo area. Cheatham said the painting was done from a photograph from the Yazoo Herald in the 1950s. Cheatham attended Roberts' first book signing held in the Rick Memorial Library in Yazoo City on Nov. 8. Roberts will have more book signings and plans to have one on the Goodman Campus of Holmes as well.
"I have known Robbie Roberts for several years and have always been fascinated by his stories and life experiences," Cheatham said. "He started posting short stories from his life on Facebook a few years ago and he realized that he had a very good start on a book. After composing and editing his stories, he sent them to a publisher. Everything happened fairly quickly, with one exception…the book cover.
"A few days before the book was to be sent to print, the publisher rejected Robbie's first choice for an image for the book's cover," he explained. "Robbie contacted me on a Monday and asked if I could produce an image for his book cover by Wednesday. Two days we made it happen!"
A noted portrait artist, Cheatham also works in landscape, still life and en plein air. His sculpture works in stone and metal are exhibited in collections around the South.
For more information about the art program at Holmes Community College, contact Cheatham at jcheatham@holmescc.edu or call (662) 472-9097.
