Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News
Walter Albritton
Local artist and Navy veteran pulling up anchors again
A few years
back gifted artist Philip Andrews moved to
There he will
have small quarters in an assisted living center. This makes down-sizing a
necessity. So Philip has decided to have an estate auction to dispose of his
treasures – many beautiful paintings and pieces of art that have been precious
to him. The auction will be held sometime in March. Then Philip will sell his
home on
Lovers of fine art will surely want to check out Philip’s art collection. My wife and I have a couple of his paintings in our home. His watercolors are superbly done with a mix of strikingly beautiful colors. I am especially fond of his rendering of John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. Philip’s love of the sea prompted him to produce many paintings of sail boats and different ports of call.
Many years
have passed since young Philip donned a Navy uniform and sailed away to serve
his country. After finishing high school in
After the war
Philip earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from
His love of
watercolors prompted him spend much time studying with outstanding artists
Eliot O’Hara and Edgar Whitney. He was also a long-time friend and student of
the late Kelly Fitzpatrick, recognized as one of
Philip also studied
under renowned artists and teachers Bob Calrow, John Pike, Richard Brough, Tony
Van Hassett, and Robert Brackman. He has traveled extensively, weighing anchors
many times to study and teach in
When I asked Philip why he has painted mostly in watercolor, he said, “Watercolor is the poetry of painting and offers a continuous challenge to an artist. It is an elusive medium even though the materials are the simplest and most basic.” He explained that beginning painters can derive great pleasure from watercolor and sometimes paint quite successful watercolors.
However he pointed out that few artists every really master watercolor on a fulltime basis. He even admitted, “I may paint a successful watercolor one day and come up with 15 failures the next day.”
Philip’s career, in addition to teaching, included working many years for the US Army as an illustrator. He is especially proud of having helped produce the very first “Survival Manual” for the Army. He supervised the manual’s illustrations and did many of them himself.
At Redstone Arsenal he worked on several “secret” projects relating to missile weaponry, and some projects dealing with space exploration. He served as supervisor of the graphic arts department at the missile school.
Philip has
other interests besides painting, one being cooking. He made my mouth water
talking about his recipe for “Slum-Gulleum,” his version of what sounded like
what my Mamma called
I never met Kelly Fitzpatrick nor do I know personally any of the renowned artists of the world. But I did get to know Philip Andrews when I was his pastor and I am thankful for the gift of his friendship. Wetumpka can be justly proud of this native son who distinguished himself by serving his country and becoming a splendid artist.
If I were in