Art as a Way of Life
By Mary Openshaw
The Facts         

Published June 6, 2007
When Lake Jackson couple Glenn and
Cherie Nowlin McBride got back to the world
of art in 1985, their lives came full circle.

Both had loved art from an early age. Cherie
went to art school and helped produce the
original Houston Astrodome scoreboard
animations, and later was a filmmaker in
Alaska.

Growing up, Glenn was fascinated with
painters, and also with music. He took
classical piano lessons for several years as
a child.

“I was the local Baptist Church piano player
for a while,” he said.

When he joined the Marines, he carried a
copy of “Life With Picasso” with him
everywhere he went.

“I bought this book by Picasso’s ex,
Francoise Gilot, about how intensively
Picasso was committed to his art,” Glenn
said. “I could see that as a way to live your
life.”

But artistic pursuits slowly gave way to the
corporate world. It wasn’t until they got
married in 1985 that the couple returned to
creating art.

“When we got married, the (art) was what we
had in common,” Glenn said. They took a
pottery class, he said, and “just went wild.”

“I think we almost love pottery best,” Cherie
said. “It’s very gratifying and very tactile.”

These days, Glenn writes poetry and
composes music. Cherie is painting and
illustrating. She recently won Best of Show at
the Tejas Art and Book Festival in Rockdale,
near Austin.

The McBrides had both an art booth and a
book booth at the festival, to display Cherie’s
artwork and sell their new book, “Tiny Bird
Songs.”

“I didn’t know when we went that there was
an art competition,” Cherie said. But the
show’s organizers told her to pick one of her
pieces to enter, which she did. She chose
“Quintana Blue,” a watercolor painting of two
great blue herons.

“When we came back in, there was a ribbon
on my piece!” Cherie said.

“Quintana Blue” is featured in the couple’s
new book, “Tiny Bird Songs.” The book is a
compilation of their art. Glenn wrote the
poems that appear throughout the book and
took photos as well. Cherie did illustrations
of numerous bird species, using the
Chinese brush style of painting. The book
also features facts about the different
species illustrated.

“Tiny Bird Songs” originated as 10 posters
designed for a gallery opening at The Center
for the Arts and Sciences in 2004. In 2006,
they incorporated the drawings into a
calendar.

This book is the couple’s first experience
with print-on-demand publishing. Print-on-
demand means that rather than printing a lot
of copies of a book that must be stored, the
book is stored digitally, and any number of
copies can be produced as needed — “on-
demand.” So far, the McBrides have had
success with their book, selling all the
copies they took with them to a show in
Kerrville recently, and garnering interest from
art galleries and museum gift shops. They
created two different covers for the book. One
features three night herons and the other
features three separate species depicted in
the book.

The two covers are meant to appeal to
different customers; the “Three Birdies”
cover is meant to be more family- and gift-
oriented, and the “Three Night Herons” cover
is more of an art gallery look, Glenn said.

Also, “we couldn’t make up our minds which
cover to use!” Cherie said.

The couple recently received their trademark
for “Tiny Bird Songs,” and hope to
incorporate their creations into other projects,
such as day planners and note cards.

They also are considering making the book
more multi-media. Glenn says he’s being
“pushed” to record a CD to go with the book.
Already, he’s written music for some of the
poems. In particular, there’s one poem,
“Flying,” that’s “a love song.”

“It’s about the snow geese flying from the
northern cold to the warm Texas sun,” Cherie
said.

As well as being pretty to look at, “Tiny Bird
Songs” is also about encouraging people to
protect nature, the couple says.

“When you start looking at the birds, they
have so much character,” Cherie said. “And
Glenn’s poetry has brought that out.”

“We’re trying to get people to empathize with
wild birds,” Glenn said. “Cherie is a totally
outdoor person. We love nature and think it’s
what art should be about.”

“Kids today do not play outside,” Cherie said.
“Some of their parents won’t let them,
because they’re afraid something will
happen to them. When we were kids, we
were never in the house; there was nothing
to do in the house.

“We just want to bring the outside in.”

Mary Openshaw is a features writer for The
Facts. Contact her at (979) 237-0155.

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