Sidney Carter’s career was waiting for him. He’d had a “brush” with it as a youth and dabbled with it at other times, but when it came time to make a decision, he chose to pursue football. Carter said that like other young football players, he hoped to play professionally.
“It’s funny how you work in these different places and look for a job,” said the Atlanta artist. “He (God) already gave me my job. I just had to learn to listen.”
Carter grew up in Florida, the youngest of 10 children. He credits two of his brothers for the love of art and football. Randall, a U.S. Department of Agriculture interior designer, would sit around the house drawing, letting Sidney watch. “He’s responsible for getting me into painting and drawing. He would bring me up to Washington and enter me into contests.” As a result of that exposure, Sidney was even offered a scholarship to go to one of the nation’s largest art schools — Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. “But I chose to go on and pursue football.”
His brother, Hunter, an engineer, had played football at UT Martin and secured a tryout for Sidney that resulted in a walk-on football scholarship after stints at two other colleges. He graduated in 1989 with a B.S. degree in arts and sciences.
Sidney sold his first artwork at 12 to the mother of one of his lifelong friends. “I started doing little drawings for people while I was at Martin. I would ask $20 … $50, whatever. I knew then that I could make a living at it –– could probably do well at it.”
When he graduated, he took a computer graphics job in Knoxville. “I would leave on Fridays and go to art festivals, and pretty soon my art started making more money than I was making on the job. In a few months I left, and everything has been climbing since then. About 10 years later, I had my own art gallery.”
Three themes guide his artwork — faith, family and his African-American heritage. When he launched his professional career, Sidney admits he had a one-track mind. “People are not as into it now, but when I first started … black art really started taking off. My goal was to be one of the most well-known black artists. I realized a little later that I was limiting myself. So now … I characterize myself as just a fine artist. I do it all.”
His favorite subjects represent family and everyday life. “I come from a big family, so that’s what I can really relate to.”
That’s also where Norman Rockwell — his favorite artist as a young painter — came in. He was a favorite because his paintings depicted people in familiar settings. “I used to do a lot of people, and I would try to give a message through my paintings. And that’s what he did. He spoke through his paintings. He had a lot of humor in it, but it was everyday life.”
He still gets inspiration from Rockwell and other artists, but added, “As I grew, I wanted to be known for what I do. What every artist tries to find, I think, is themselves and something they can be known for. So that’s where I am now.”
Sidney has several “modes” of painting. While he waits for his next inspiration, there’s no down time. He paints musical instruments. “When I have a break, that’s what I do because it doesn’t take a lot of thought. While I’m creating these, my next detailed painting will come to me. I try not to waste time because once you enter a career, and this is what you do for a living, … it’s up to me to pay my bills myself. I’ve got to keep working at all times.”
“Working” includes painting, building canvases and framing (a skill he learned early on while working at a craft shop), along with promoting and operating a gallery and traveling to art shows.
Sidney gets some of his best ideas while driving hours to shows and exhibitions. “I have plenty of time to think.” He carries two small leather books all the time and makes quick sketches when he has an idea.
He has a drafting table in his basement so he can work at home and a studio in the gallery. On a typical day, he gets up early and paints until time to take sons, Sidney 14, and Anthony 12, to school. Then, he heads to the gym to work out and then to the gallery to paint until 3 p.m., when it’s time to pick up his sons and drop them off at home. He returns to the studio to work.
“I always tell people I don’t work. I don’t have a job, because this is heaven to get to do what I want to do — to wake up and paint. I’m free. That’s when I’m at my happiest, when I’m painting. I turn on some music and paint all day long.”
Ask Sidney if he has a favorite painting and he’ll laugh and tell you, “The one that sells first.” Answering seriously, he’ll tell you it’s “Grandma’s Hands,” prints of which he no longer sells. It was an early piece, before his artwork “took off.” He gave a reproduction of it to his UT Martin assistant football coach, Jerry Reese, New York Giants senior vice president and general manager.
| A large Sidney Carter mural graces the University of Maryland Nyumburu Cultural Center in College Park. Alonzo Mourning, former NBA player; Tra Thomas, NFL player; director Spike Lee and actor Dorian Harewood, all have purchased his paintings. John Jacob, former National Urban League president, who retired as Anheuser Busch executive vice president of global communications, met Sidney and bought three of his paintings at an art show last year. Recently, Jacob returned to the same art show to say “hello” to Sidney and see if there was another painting he and his wife “must have.” They purchased another one. “Sidney’s work somehow just speaks to me and my wife,” he said. |
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In recent years, Sidney was surprised to see a couple of his college classmates at an art show. They had asked him to do some drawings for them while in college. They told him that they held onto them all these years and said, “I knew you were going to be an artist.” He added, “Since I started doing my artwork professionally, a lot of my (UT Martin) teammates … have supported me.”
Knowing that teammates and classmates remembered his art reminds Sidney that UT Martin “was a little different.” He added, “I wasn’t a very studious person … and that was one of the things that kept me from being successful at the other schools.” At UT Martin, he was encouraged to succeed off and on the field. “It wasn’t just about football,” he said, speaking of former coach Don McLeary and others. “Even when we won the conference championship … those guys that wanted to go on and continue getting their degree, … he made sure they finished. So with UT Martin, I know there was some caring. That’s what I took with me.”
His wife, Cheryl Anthony Carter, (‘84), and sons also provide an abundance of support. While he wants Sidney and Anthony to be well rounded academically, musically and in extracurricular activities, he involves them in his world of art. The two sketchbooks that hold all his ideas will someday be theirs. All his paintings, regardless of whether or not he decided to reproduce and sell them, are saved on CDs. If something happens to him, his family “has those to go to and create and still make a living,” he said.
“Right before Christmas, I took my kids on an art show with me. They get a kick out of people coming up and buying artwork.” He also shares his awards and prize money when he returns from shows. “I make them a part of it. I tell them ‘we’ won.” Now, when he returns from a show, they ask, “How are ‘we’ doing?”
Sidney tries to pass on that type of caring, mentoring young artists and helping them pursue their careers in art. “I have this thing that I say: If I’m so fortunate to make it to the gates of heaven, and I can see God standing there and … He says ‘job well done, but who did you bring with you?’ That’s real success.”
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