Los Angeles, CA USA

SEAN

ARTISAN: Mosaic Tile Layer Artist
Sketch Artist Post TBI
Former Sargeant USMC
Former Athelete and College Soccer Coach
Survivor of Traumatic Brain Injury

Monday, July 29, 2002 9:08 PM
320 S. Jackson St. - Athens, TN

Daily Post-Athenian

News Article

Artist’s work will be on exhibit through Wednesday at library

Mosaics and birdhouses – Sean Paul Clanton shows off two of his mosaic artworks, “Medallion,” which hangs on the wall behind him, and “Chess Anyone?” a table. The birdhouse sitting on the table is called “Garden Villa” and is a piece Clanton and his six-year-old daughter Abbey made complete with painted furniture and decorations for each room. Clanton’s works are on display through Wednesday, July 31, wrapping up the July show of the Community Artists League : Photo by Autumn Hughes

By: AUTUMN HUGHES: Lifestyles Editor
Source: The Daily Post-Athenian
07-29-2002

Artisan: Sean Titled: "Feeling a Little Blu"
Mosaic Wall Hanging

When one door closes, another opens. At least, that was the case for Sean Paul Clanton whose artwork is on display through Wednesday at E.G. Fisher Public Library in the Community Artists League series.

Clanton, a former student and soccer coach at Tennessee Wesleyan College, was an accomplished athlete until an automobile accident almost four years ago changed his life. He suffered a traumatic brain injury in the accident, and since that time his recovery has led him away from sports and toward the arts.

“It’s weird what parts of my brain have been affected,” Clanton said, adding he always had artistic talent, but his athletic interests took over for much of his life.

The repressed artist reasserted itself in Clanton around Christmas 2000. He had not yet received his Social Security benefits and had no money to buy gifts, so he decided to make some. He had worked with tile before and his brother, Reid, gave him a small tile saw. Clanton put the saw to use against leftover tile pieces he bought by the bucketload from Paragon Tile & Marble and made mosaic gifts for family and friends. Because of his brother’s support, Clanton calls the beach scene he gave to Reid his “original” artwork.

Clanton began to discover other people were interested in his art when a mother’s friend asked him to make a sword mount for her son, a former U.S. Marine Corps sergeant. Clanton, a former USMC sergeant himself, was only too happy to tackle the task. After seeing the finished product, the friend’s mother – an interior decorator – asked him to make a piece for a model home she was working on. He made a mosaic dart board complete with numbers to hang in the game room.

“When you walked into the game room, it really looked like a real dart board,” he added. Clanton said his six-year-old daughter Abbey helped him create the “Garden Villa” birdhouse. It was Abbey who suggested “decorating” each of the three “rooms” in the birdhouse, which resulted in paint both inside and outside the piece. He added Abbey was the driving creative force behind “Daddy’s Block,” a diminutive column covered in colorful tiles. Unlike the other pieces in the exhibit, “Daddy’s Block” is not for sale.

Clanton said he gets tile from several sources, but he is hoping to find a regular tile supplier to increase the selection of materials.

“I use a lot of purple, red and yellow,” Clanton said.

“Mood” is one piece that shows many colors and it and “Feeling a Little Blu” (named after a friend’s daughter, Blu) both began as ideas to fill purchased wooden picture frames.

Clanton said most of his art usually begins with a piece of plywood cut to size and shape. He fills the surface in with a design, which can occasionally take the longest time of the entire mosaic process. Clanton then removes the tile pieces and sets them aside in the chosen design, filling in the surface to be decorated with mastic. The tile pieces are then fitted back into place and pressed securely into the mastic. The piece is finished when it is grouted and cleaned to remove all residue from the tops of the tiles.

Clanton said his art is meant to be touched, like “Chess Anyone?” a table complete with a vivid purple and jade green checkered board design that took about two months to complete. He said he spent the most time on “Chess Anyone?” and he loves “Medallion” which hangs above the table in the exhibit. “Angel in the Stars” is the first piece on the right just inside the gallery door. It is one of several angel pieces he has made over the years.

Clanton said his work has evolved to include “less grout and more tile” and he hopes this is the first of many successful exhibitions.

“In 10 to 15 years from now I hope to be making a living from this,” Clanton said. “I enjoy doing this.”

In addition to the impressive collection of mosaic pieces, Clanton is also displaying some artworks he created using pastels. The coach in Clanton comes out when he says to become adept at something you must focus on doing it well, not obsess about “branching out” too much into different areas.

With the exception of one or two works, Clanton’s art is “signed” with a stylized version of his initials, S.P.C., made of tile. He said his initials appear to be shown backwards in his signature because it is easier for the “C” to encompass the “S” and “P” than the other way around or to put the initials in a line.

“If I ever get rich and famous, that will kind of be my trademark,” Clanton said of his signature.

Clanton’s artwork will be on display at E.G. Fisher Public Library through Wednesday, July 31. Library hours are 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, and 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

For more information, call the E.G. Fisher Public Library at 745-7782.

Mosiac Wallhanging by Sean postTBI
Titled: "Medallion"

Mosaic Table by Sean Post TBI
Titled: “Chess Anyone?”

Coach Clanton

Soccer coach at Tennessee Wesleyan College, Sean Clanton was an accomplished athlete.

Click here for Sean's Mosaic Artworks

Sean's Story

TBI/ABI Veterans Dean : Former Sargeant USMC