Requiem for an Artist: Mahlon Fawcett

Moment of glory- Lonnie introduced at the Roamin Angel breakfast before the car show

Rare moment of glory-
Lonnie introduced at the Roamin Angel breakfast before the car show.? I loaned him one of my Vette shirts.

It’s Christmas time.? For many years, my good friend, Mahlon Fawcett, known as Lonnie, would come up to our house in Lake Arrowhead for our annual Christmas party.? Although that has been many years ago, my mind wanders back to those parties and my friend who will not be celebrating Christmas this year.? He is no longer on this earth, but I will not let him be forgotten.? If you are on this website, you’ve met him.? He did all the banners for my website.? His zany sense of humor and off-the-wall ideas come through them, as they often did in his work.? Perhaps that limited the appeal of certain pieces he did.? Yet he would do commissioned work, even Disney characters for a child’s room.? He did great drawings of film notables like Jimmy Stewart, James Cagney, Basil Rathbone and even Harrison Ford for me that hang in my pool room.? Although he knew almost nothing about cars, he enjoyed doing caricatures of car people in their hot rods and classic cars at the annual Roamin Angels car shows.? He loved drawing and would do almost anything requested.? His passion was his art.

Lonnie titled this one "Bomber's Moon."

Lonnie titled this one “Bomber’s Moon.”

I met Lonnie in the early ’80’s.? John, his brother, worked for me as a tow truck driver.? Finding out that I had an interest in Sci-fi, he told me about Lonnie’s work and brought in a few pieces to show me, which I bought.? I kept asking John to meet his brother, but he said that Lonnie was a recluse who hated meeting people.? For a year or so, John would occasionally bring in pieces Lonnie had done and I would buy them.? Then, out of the blue, I got a call from Lonnie asking me to meet him.? I went to his small trailer, where he showed me more of his work and asked me if I was interested in anything.? When I hesitated, he said, “Just give me what you think it’s worth.”? That was Lonnie.? He loved to draw, but hated marketing himself.? As it turned out, brother John told Lonnie I was making him give the art to him, so Lonnie never got any of the money.? But Lonnie’s phone call ended that scam.? And, as Bogie said to Louis in Casablanca, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.? Did I mention that Lonnie loved old movies even more than I do and could do voice impersonations of many of the old actors?? He did.

Time Travel ala  Lonie

Time Travel ala Lonnie

Over the years, Lonnie and I became good friends.? I tried to promote him and his art.? We went to a San Diego ComicCon in 1986, where he sold art at a table there.? Unfortunately, people there were looking for comic books, not original art.? I got him a review by Disney, which didn’t pan out for unknown reasons.? I got him an interview with DIC Entertainment that went quite well.? The very young executive we met with loved Lonnie’s art and described a new series that he thought Lonnie could do.? Lonnie and I both were on Cloud 9 when we left.? I kept telling Lonnie to do a follow-up call, but he felt it would be too pushy.? Then, months later, the series came out without Lonnie.? I tell this tale to demonstrate two facts: I believed in Lonnie, but he did not have enough self-confidence to push open the doors.? In retrospect, I feel guilt that I did not do more pushing for him because I could see he would not.? If I had, maybe Lonnie would have had a successful career in animation.? I’ll never know.

To understand a person, know his upbringing.? Lonnie’s father died when he was a teenager.? His mother was an alcoholic.? When he was an adult, she married a two-time convicted child abuser whom she chose over Lonnie.? Then there was his brother, John, who had been telling Lonnie that I was forcing him to give the artwork to me to keep his job.? His only romantic interest Lonnie married, but they soon separated and never met each other again.?? I have no idea who she was or where she now is.? Out of this came a man who was kind and gentle, living to draw.? Lonnie was a big man when we met, over six feet and maybe 230 pounds, but never used his size to intimidate.? He was a good soul.

Christmas card Lonnie drew with my '72 Vette

“Sorry, Comet, if you want to be Robin, you’ve got to wear tights”? A Christmas card Lonnie drew for me with my ’72 Vette

Lonnie had no formal art training, but had natural talent and taught himself.? His passion for his art knew no bounds.? He would rather starve than forsake his calling.? At times, he nearly did.? I would give him money, but he always made sure he did something in return.? Any idea of a picture, any concept I had of a drawing he gladly did.? He gave as much as he received, probably more.? He did drawings of me as the Crusader he loved, back against the wall, bloodied but not defeated.? I asked him to do it after a trying day at work and it hangs on my wall in my office now.? He did Christmas cards with all the cars I owned over the years,? Anything that I asked, he did and did well.? I had so many panels he’d made that I gave a number of them back to him to sell.? Sadly, he entrusted them for consignment sale to Jim Van Hise who was, at best, very tardy on payments and who is now selling Lonnie’s artwork for which he never paid Lonnie a dime.? DO NOT BUY THESE ON eBay!!? If you love his work, I have his best pieces in my collection.? I will make copies of ones I have and have you send the money to a charity he appreciated in his honor.? I will only take the cost of reproduction and furnish proof of that amount.? Contact me if you are interested.

Star Wars tribute,  Obi-wan, are you there?

Star Wars tribute, Obi-wan, are you there?

Over the years, Lonnie spent time with us at our home.? I like to feel that we became the family he never had.? When he came up to Lake Arrowhead for our annual Christmas party, he participated in the video-taping we did of spoofed commercials.? He taped voice impersonations of John Wayne, Obi-wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness), Humphrey Bogart and Alfred the Batman’s butler for our answering machine.? He got to see snow for the first time at our house.? His R2-D2 snowman sculpture was exquisite. ? When my family and I moved to the Isle of Man, my sister and her husband had a farewell party.? It was a nostalgia theme and everyone participated in lip-syncing to a Moldie Oldie.? I have a video recording of Lonnie mouthing the soprano solo of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” with his group.? I still laugh.

Typical cars how caracature

Typical car show caricature of me and my T-Bird

After we moved overseas, things did not go well for Lonnie.? He had his demons, mainly drink and tobacco.?Drink cost him his place to stay and maybe along with his diet, his life in the long run.? But he did conquer alcoholism after becoming a Christian, totally abstaining.? However, the long-term effects might have caused his diabetes.? Tobacco kept its hold on him as long as I knew him, but at least he did not die of lung cancer.? After we moved back stateside, we had him come up to visit us for the Roamin Angel car shows in September.? It gave him a sense of validation to hear the praise for the drawings he did.? For several years, it was a vacation for him.? The only ones he ever really had.? But it didn’t last.

Lonnie doing waht he loved most at the 2003 Roamin Angel car show: creating his art.

Lonnie doing what he loved most at the 2003 Roamin Angel car show: creating his art.

Lonnie, bested by ill health and infection, ended up in an extended care facility.? I watched as he deteriorated, finally ending up in a motorized wheelchair.? Yet his mind and his talent remained alive.? I visited him when I was in SoCal, taking him to breakfast.? He relished the real eggs, sausage and hash-browns that he did not get “inside.” He talked about the art he did for people who lived with him or cared for him, oft times for little or nothing.? He taught kids how to draw, calling them his students.? His goal was to inspire them with the same love of drawing that he had.? And he did, a real success for him.? Money was never the reason for his drawing, but rather the love of creating.? Greed was unknown to Lonnie.

 

The last Christmas Card Lonnie drew for me.

“Merry Christmas, Santa.? We thought one Moldie Oldie deserved another!”? The last Christmas card Lonnie drew for me.

I was in France when I got a message on my home phone to call the facility where he lived.? Because the facility only had my home phone, they had been trying to get me for a couple of days before I retrieved the messages.? Lonnie had died on October 27th after an operation to remove one of his feet because of infection.? Having been out of the country, I never knew he was going into the hospital.? I was the only person Lonnie had given any authority to for his affairs and they did not know what to do with his meager belongings.? Linda Gutman, a kind lady from his church, handled everything for me, even though she had not known him that well.? Lonnie is gone, but will never be forgotten.? People who have his art will see him whenever that look at his drawings.? Every time I sit in my office, working on my computer and every time I walk through the pool room, I remember him.? While he never achieved greatness in the eyes of the world, he did in mine.? And he was a good friend.? Merry Christmas, Lonnie.

 

 

 

6 thoughts on “Requiem for an Artist: Mahlon Fawcett

  1. Hello, Mr. Cherry my name is Rachelle Lopez. I was a student of Lonnie’s. I was given many drawing of Lonnie’s. One of these drawings includes a drawing of a cherry for your logo. Lonnie showed it to me before he passed and he never got to finish it. So I took it upon myself to finish the drawing for him, to give to you. Do you have an email address, that I can send the drawing to? -sincerely Rachelle L.

    • Greetings Rachelle,

      When I visited Lonnie, he talked of how much his students meant to him and of one young woman who was exceptional. You meant a lot to him. I would greatly appreciate the logo. I have many of his original pieces on poster board, too many to put on the wall. I consider them the best of the best, and I do know Lonnie’s art. If you would like one, I will give it to you. I hate just having them stored and would far prefer to give them to people who would appreciate them.

      Yours,
      Ron

      • I am so sorry Mr. Cherry, I did not know that you responded to my message until today. I was trying to look up the year Lonnie was born and I looked at this site. There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of Lonnie. He is my inspiration and I hope to some day make him proud of me. I would still like to give you his logo that he never finished. I finished it for him. Please give me your email so I may send it to you.

  2. Thank you for writing this, Ron. I enjoyed the time I spent worth Lonnie getting to know him as a volunteer at our church. I thank God I was able to help him out in a crucial time of his life and again after he passed. We know where Lonnie is now, and I know he isn’t upset about it.

  3. Lonnie was a wonderful and generous man. He did a caricature drawing of my dad, brother and I that I asked for for my dad for Christmas. A copy of it hangs on my wall in my office and I know the original hangs in my dad’s office. He loved it. Rest in Peace Lonnie and thank you Ron for the lovely tribute to this kind and talented man.

  4. Having known Lonnie I can attest to what a special person he was and confirm every word written above as accurate. A very neat individual who would do most anything for a friend. Driftnbait

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