CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 21 contact, handshakes, hugs. Other kids surrounding him were not as lucky, and their stories stuck with him like pages from his treasured books. Imogen portrays a little girl seeking solace in the moon, a moment encapsulating both the vulnerability and resourcefulness of children. "As a child, you think about things with a lot more depth than adults give you credit for," Stamey said. His illustrations are intended less for children, and more for taking adults back to that mindset. "Halloween rolls around, and you get so excited about putting on make-up and dressing up like a zombie. It's like falling in love for the first time," he said. For Stamey, childhood is pure perception. His own was changed by a yard sale find of the original, more gruesome versions of Grimm's fairy tales. "Fear is like a drug for children," he said. He hopes to someday illustrate his own children's books about overcoming kid fears. "I think we need to learn how to do that early on," he said. "Otherwise you end up with an adult who doesn't know how to deal with things." In The Nightmare Tree, a little boy is shown taking an axe to the tree that casts shadows in his room, a singular moment that sparks the imagination and expands into a world of its own. Text lends many of his pieces the same feeling of being ripped from a children's book – moments that exist somewhere as part of a larger narrative. Afternoons spent poring over books and magazines seem to have forever fused images to words in the artist's mind, transforming straightforward drawings into stories. His other works are influenced by classic ads, providing timeless illustrations about who we are and what we desire. Until recently, Stamey worked as a projectionist at Cameo Art House Theatre where film has taught him about capturing moments. "The most interactive ones aren't necessarily about speaking to another person," he said. "You can walk outside or just stand on your porch and have an incredible moment." The Moon in June came to him as an idea for a silent film in which a woman falls in love with the elusive man in the moon. Stamey moved to Fayetteville for one good reason. "She's about 5'2", brown hair, brown eyes and very persuasive," he said. Stamey expected to be here about six months, save some money, and move on. That was two years ago. "I had no idea there was so much going on here," he said. He says the arts community has been good to him. Stamey wants to make a serious career of his art, but is still floored by the idea of people buying his illustrations. "It's not a necessity, not like putting bread on the table," he said. "I am one of the luckiest people I know because I have met some incredible people willing to spend their money on something I do for fun." Teaching and making prints of his work are two short-term goals, but all bets are off once he realizes his dream – a five-book contract with a major publisher. Until then, Stamey is happy to keep brainstorming, learning, and working on commissioned children's illustrations. As for still lifes and portraits though, he simply isn't interested. "Maybe the apples and oranges are having an intense conversation," he said, "but I wouldn't know how to portray that in a bowl of fruit." CV Stamey's work can be seen on his web site, www.OctoberIllustrations.com. Still lifes are not interesting material for Stamey, who prefers to make manifest a vignette from a story or illuminate the theme from a classic ad.

• Cover