Culture & Entertainment Notebook: Don Greenwood: 70 years of creating

New Orleans native Don Greenwood has been creating original drawings for nearly 70 years -- acquiring an entire room full of political cartoons, letterheads, graphic embossing, caricatures, T-shirt designs and logos.

Greenwood said his first piece was of a horse on the back of an envelope at the age of 5. He is now almost 75.

"They hadn't invented refrigerator magnets yet," Greenwood said, "so my mom put that with Scotch tape on the front of the refrigerator and said, 'You are really a good artist.'"

So from then on, he "was an artist," even though Greenwood -- who now lives in Cape Girardeau with his wife Roseanna -- never took an official art class past the eighth grade.

"I drew every day," Greenwood said.

While thumbing through multiple pieces he etched for the purpose of embossing Tuesday at Port Cape Girardeau, Greenwood said he worked as a video game, movie and logo engraver for a combined 45 years.

He stood before drawings on cocktail napkins lining a portion of the bar wall within Port Cape Girardeau. Greenwood described them as his "doodles" with "funny things that people seem to like."

"These napkins here," as he points to the framed napkins, "they've probably got three times that many. But these are just ones left on the table that nobody picked up ... I've done them everywhere, from Japan to Hawaii to Mexico. I just gave one to a guy from Ireland last week."

Greenwood started working as an engraver for Hallmark Cards in 1964, before moving to Cape Girardeau.

KASSI JACKSON ~ kjackson@semissourian.com Don Greenwood holds a piece of his artwork while standing in front of framed napkin drawings he has also done, which are on display in Port Cape, Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, in Cape Girardeau.

He also worked for Versace, Pontiac, Disney and Cape Engravers.

"I got to Cape because American Greetings hired seven of us away from Hallmark," he said.

Greenwood, also a Visual Artist Cooperative member, has artwork displayed at the Arts Council of Southeast Missouri Art Gallery in Cape Girardeau, The Library and within the halls and bar area of Port Cape Girardeau.

"I retired 10 years ago, but I still do artwork every day," he said. "I just finished a piece that went into the [Arts Council Gallery] this month."

Along with the doodled napkins, Greenwood pointed out several other colorful pieces he created by using Prismacolor, a type of colored pencil that allows him to easily blend the hues.

And at what is now Blue Diamond Sports Bar in downtown Cape Girardeau, Greenwood said he also completed a 70-foot mural.

Napkin artwork of Don Greenwood hangs framed on a wall in Port Cape's dining space Tuesday in Cape Girardeau.KASSI JACKSON

Greenwood has written more than 100 songs, he added, and has performed some of those in downtown Cape Girardeau during songwriter's night. He also enjoys occasional kayaking.

"When it's cold out, being from the Deep South, I'm not a big fan of cold weather so I don't do that much in the winter time," he said. "But in spring, summer and fall, I go (kayaking) at least once a week."

His latest project, a children's book in cooperation with author Cathleen Hall from Illinois, is what Greenwood is focusing on now.

"The formula is: I do the artwork, then they can make laser copies, shoot it to size and do a rough layout," he said. "This lady has two more books already in mind, after we finish this."

KASSI JACKSON ~ kjackson@semissourian.com Artist Don Greenwood flips through some engraving pieces he brought to Port Cape Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, in Cape Girardeau.

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55 years

Cast photo from the daytime drama Days of Our Lives. Pictured from left:Edward Mallory, Denise Alexander, Macdonald Carey and Susan Flannery.Wikipedia

Farewell

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Longtime Disney animator and Hanna-Barbera director Bon Lusk has died at the age of 105.

Lusk was responsible for the creation of characters in "Alice in Wonderland," "Charlie Brown," "Babar," "Papa Smurf" and "Goofy."

Disney conceptual artist Mike Peraza and Lusk's friend Juliette Paskowitz confirmed Lusk's death on Facebook, according to SYFY Wire.

"Very sad to report that our good friend Don has passed on," Peraza wrote. "As with so many animation veterans he was as talented (and he was) as he was generous to others with his advice and help over the years. He will be missed but his wonderful work will live on."