Each art studio in Larry Bullington’s new home is designed so that regardless of what a prospective student wants to create — pointillism, clay sculpture, oil painting and more — he can help them.
All Larry Bullington’s previous art was destroyed in the fire that claimed his old home and studio, so everything that hangs in his new home was painted, sculpted or printed by Bullington over the last several months.Five months ago, the outlook for Larry Bullington was grim. After his house and art studio in Red bank were claimed in a near-deadly case of arson in June, Bullington and his wife Judy had nothing, and minimal prospects on what would come next.
Now, though, Bullington is proud to announce The Master’s Studio is officially reopening for business – much faster than he said he ever could have hoped.
“The whole experience has been stressful and surreal to say the least,” he said. “But we’re stronger than ever.”
Bullington’s original location burned down after a tenant he and his wife were renting their basement space to lit the house ablaze in what was investigated as an arson/suicide, Bullington said. The fire was started around midnight, and Bullington said he and his wife are lucky to be alive, escaping only with the clothes on their backs.
With the studio gone and all his supplies destroyed, Bullington’s employment prospects looked extremely limited. The studio, which he’d opened in 2007, was his primary source of income. While Bullington has a master’s in secondary education from UTC and is an ordained minister who presides over wedding ceremonies, he’d poured money, effort and countless hours into his studio.
Without it, he wasn’t sure what his family would do.
A Go Fund Me set up by a friend of his wife raised more than $11,000 for the couple over six weeks, friends and family members donating to help sustain Bullington and his wife while they waited for an insurance payout.
“The fundraiser money bought us our first pair of clothes after the fire,” he said. “It let us get a bed and a temporary house to rent. We practically had a normal life going by the time we got the insurance money.”
Without the generosity of the community, Bullington said he’s not sure where he and his wife would have stayed following the blaze.
Just as significant, he said, was that not a single one of his clients ended up going somewhere else for art lessons until he could reopen his studio. Now, they’ve all come back, including some who had stopped lessons as far back as a few years ago, he said.
“I mean, one lady had donated $1,000 to the fund and she hadn’t had an art class in two years,” said Bullington.
He credits the support received to the safe and loving environments he tries to cultivate with his art lessons. To Bullington, his art lessons are a way for people to create what they want in an environment they are comfortable with; he simply sneaks in the knowledge and technique to help them improve.
The Master’s Studio teaches people of all ages and instructs in all mediums, from charcoal to clay to oil painting.
“We had such a weird thing happen to us, and I think it upset people in the community that it happened,” said Bullington. “We just want people to know how well we’re doing.”
The new location for The Master’s Studio is just a few blocks from the previous location. Visit the studio at 911 Sherry Circle in Hixson. Larry Bullington can be reached at larryjudybulling@bellsouth.net.
Email Shane Foley at sfoley@timesfreepress.com.