Ian Berry’s 2012 “The Cheyenne Has Gone” is the third Quilt City USA Murals that will 'hang' on the
flood wall adjacent to the Schroeder Expo & Convention Center in Paducah, Kentucky.
Renowned British fiber artist Ian Berry’s denim-on-denim textile creation, “The Cheyenne Has Gone,” made only with blue jeans, featuring a diner in New York, was chosen by sponsors Jim and Tom DeCillis to be the next mural in the series. The DeCillis brothers, noted nostalgia collectors, reproduced a vintage 50s soda fountain bar in Jim’s historic home in Lower Town so felt a connection to the piece.
Ian Berry’s original artwork made in only denim - The Cheyenne has Gone, 2012
Tanya Neitzke received her M.F.A. degree at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale Illinois. Neitzke has been included in various solo, two-person, and group exhibitions nationally as well as internationally and is the Painting and FYE Assistant Professor at the West Kentucky Community and Technical College’s Paducah School of Art and Design.
Tanya Neitzke with the mural in Paducah, Kentucky
British artist Ian Berry traveled from the UK to Paducah in 2018 to participate in the Paducah Arts Alliance Artist in Residence Program. During that time, he set up a large denim installation and met with local students, and lectured at PSAD. Tanya met him there and learned about his artistry. When she heard “Cheyenne” had been chosen and she would be painting the mural, she was in disbelief since she had recently met him.
"The Cheyenne Has Gone" Denim on Denim by Ian Berry. perfect. “Ian is so innovative. He uses denim in a way that makes it look like a painting, and here I am painting to try to make it look like denim!”Tanya exclaimed.
Tanya Neitzke working on the mural in Paducah, Kentucky
Tanya used a product called Pellon as the painting surface of the mural. Pellon is a non-woven stabilizing material used in quilting for decorative stitch work. The 20-inch panels are primed and joined together with frog tape to create the background, then disassembled when the painting is completed. This process enables the artist to paint year-round in the comfort of her studio. Tanya painted “Cheyenne” on a huge second-floor wall at PSAD, climbing ladders, sitting on the floor, and contorting to reach every angle.
Berry sent Tanya his image, and she projected it onto the Pellon strips that she hung on the wall. “My goal was to make it as exact as I could. The first layer is black acrylic. In the second layer I used earthtones, so when the painting is outside and the light hits it, the earthtones will add a blocker to the sun.”
Tanya spent around 400 hours on the project over a year-and-eight-months. “This is the most dry-brushing I've ever done in my life,” she said. “It's a technique in which, using a textured bristle brush, paint is rubbed against the surface with no water or vehicle. It takes a lot of patience.”
This February, Tanya put the final touches on the painting and later applied a working varnish, then meticulously took each strip down from the wall, rolled it up, and handed it over to the installers.
“I enjoyed the times where I would feel like I was successfully capturing the texture and really connecting with Ian’s work. I hoped my hand and my mind would make that connection and be that bridge to the subject I was painting. That makes it a lot of fun.”
‘Thank you, Ian, for letting me live in your denim world and try something new. I hope this mural invites people to pause, rest, and feel a bit of that stillness, day or night.’ Tanya added.
The mural series was the idea of former mayor Gayle Kaler, who saw this as an opportunity to enhance Paducah’s reputation as an international destination for quilters and fiber enthusiasts. “The quilt mural project was begun as a means to showcase Paducah talent and enhance our UNESCO Creative City designation” Kaler added.