My Time in the World of Fashion

See the CBS Feature Here

Under a canopy of bright lights wrapped in a furl of sound equipment and cameras, I sat knee to knee with Anthony Mason, the CBS This Morning Saturday anchor to conduct an interview about my role in the world of fashion illustration, some years ago and today. His own intimate knowledge of that world, having grown up in the midst of it, had our light conversation remain just that...a light conversation. The nervousness I felt being interviewed on camera vanished as we spoke heart to heart about the world of fashion illustration.  We spoke of how it had once shined so brightly, then dimmed, and is now re-discovered as a lost art. He asked how I found myself doing fashion art, and I told him of the fateful day I walked through the doors of Edith Obel's fashion drawing class at Cass Tech H.S. in Detroit into a world I didn't realize existed. There, I found the art skill that really resonated with me in the beauty of women and the fashion world that was devised for it.

Today, for evidence of people's desire to see these illustrations, one only had to witness the throng of people that flocked to the opening of The Visionaries exhibit curated by fashion artist, Bil Donovan, at the Society of Illustrators on East 63rd street. The exhibit was filled with over sixty fashion illustrations by the top names in the industry, compiled for FIT's Francis Neady's Museum archive, in which I proudly have works.

One could also find aesthetes clamoring for entry to openings spearheaded by the great global connoisseurs of fashion art, Connie and Ashley Gray, at their Gray MCA Gallery in London. As Anthony had seen in  TUNSTULL, From Fashion to Fine Art, co-written by Jelani Bandele, I had an extensive role in the fashion art world with clients such as, WWD, Vogue, Playbill, Bloomingdales, Ralph Lauren, L'Oreal, before launching into my current fine art and teaching careers.

To my pleasure, part of the interview featured me creating a quick sketch of photographer and dear friend Romney Mueller-Westernhagen. Besides lending her natural beauty and energy to this moment, she played a pivotal role in my career as an illustrator.

For many of us, whether in the fashion business or not, illustrations were a part of our lives, as we fingered through newspapers, magazines, billboards, posters, books and the like. They added aesthetics in our lives and contributed to a more artfully inspired community. The new fashion illustrators of today bring dynamic new version of the art, with new materials and more inclusive attitudes about beauty. Names like CarlosAponte, George Gozum, Leonard Cadiente, to name a few, are bringing new excitement to the storied discipline.

Be sure to watch Tunstull, Bil Donovan and Sara Singh on CBS this Saturday, February 29th during the 8:00am EDT hour.

For more of my fashion art: www.tunstullstudio.com
Photos by Romney Mueller-Westernhagen

Sketch of Romney for the interview

Tunstull and Anthony Mason

L'Oreal sketch (l.) and Autumn Stroll (r.)

Meeting old friends for the very first time

When was the last time you met someone for the first time and felt like you were already old friends? Not just the sensation that you liked and understood one another upon first meeting, which is rare enough, but that you had a shared history of life experiences that were so similar, that you must have passed one another at events or in the hallways of your lives. Was this a perception from the past or a precognition of the future? This thought rambled through my mind from the moment I first met Monina Von Opel, and her husband Edward, at my studio this past weekend. Both having lived in Paris, and she as a fashion editor, had me convinced we had more in common than baguettes and brie.

They had arrived for a studio visit to select an oil painting for the permanent collection at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital. The recently built modern facility contains many works from some of the top artists known on the island and elsewhere. I was thrilled to be sought out for the honor and had cleaned up the studio for the visit.

Works bubble wrapped for their long term protection were freed from the encasements and sparkled  like new again. As we poured over the works, my artistic past in oils and watercolors flowed before our eyes, with many attendant stories of how and where they came about. Though the works have been with me all along, they felt like children returning home and showing me how much they had grown. For artists, the distance of time is the only way one's works can be truly appreciated by its creator. In time all the unmet desires for the work falls away and the art stands on its own in the artist's eyes.

Monina and Edward selected "Rose Dawn" to grace the walls of the gallery, as a memory of our new found friendship. https://www.mvhospital.com/art/collection

Artful Levity with Audrey Smaltz

Nigel Freeman and Audrey Smaltz

In the highly coveted setting of the Swann Gallery on East 25th St, some of the most beautiful examples of African American Artists works of the 20th century are on view from the private collection of the Johnson Publishing Company, of Ebony Magazine fame. Filled to overflowing with friends and collectors, those storied art filled walls roared with laughter and delight as the ever vivacious, Audrey Smaltz, dazzled the audience with stories of her global exploits as seekers of high fashion and art along with Eunice Johnson, creator of the Ebony Fashion Fair.

In her inimitable way, Audrey described the arc of her life as a model/commentator turned entrepreneur, and wove in stories of the rarefied lifestyle she enjoyed as a collaborator of one of the greatest collection of haute couture and fine art ever assembled. The talk was as enlightening as it was gratifying, as we vicariously stepped into the world view of two of the greatest purveyors of alternative perspectives of African American life. Audrey maximized those years as a fashionista and later created her own milestone enterprise, The Ground Crew, employing many young people, new to the fashion world, during Fashion Week.

The gallery walls meant for artistic contemplation, reverberated with laughter as we learned of the many experiences Audrey enjoyed with her larger than life personality. Honored to be questioned by the Head of the African American Collections, Nigel Freeman, a fun banter started from the beginning. Smiling from the surrounding walls, the masterful works of Richard Mayhew, Ann Tanksley, Jacob Lawrence, Francis Sprout, Kenneth V. Young, Barbara Johnson Zuber, and Henry O'Tanner (coined HOT's by Audrey) among many others. As Audrey said, "one must have art and music in your home" for it to feel alive. I believe the many works came to life that night. Many friends were there to get an early look at the art and share the moment with Audrey. Incidentally she shared how she and Gail were collectors of my work, while on the podium, which was an honor for me.

The official auction for the Johnson Publishing Company artworks is Thursday, 2:00pm, January 30th, at 104 East 25th St, NYC.

Audrey Smaltz, Barbara Harris and Lu Sierra

Coco Mitchell and Lu Sierra

Glenn and Audrey Smaltz

Glenn and John Treadwell