Lou Kregel sits in her studio with one of her two dogs. When Kregel was younger, people often doubted her aspirations to become an artist. “I think that people were not open to anything, especially for women. I loved to draw and I knew from first grade my career was going to be in art,” Kregel said. Photo by Emma Ramsay.
Athens artist Lou Kregel is known for her chrysanthemum paintings located all over Athens, but more importantly how she has refused to conform to those around her.
For 57 years, Lou Kregel has refused to color within other people’s lines.
Kregel was born on June 23, 1960 in Denton, Texas and for the last 25 years she has lived in Athens as a local artist.
Kregel has wanted to be an artist as early as she can remember, but growing up in the late ‘60s made it hard to attain that dream.
“I think that people were not open to anything, especially for women. There were no options in the ‘60’s,” Kregel said. “In first grade we had these little workbooks and it was like, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ ‘Girls: mother, nurse, teacher.’ Those were the three options. I was just like, ‘Where do I check for artist?’”
Kregel’s sister, Leslie Kregel says that Lou has always showed a strong interest in art, regardless of what those around her thought.
“It was just in her DNA. Growing up, Lou was always happy just doing her own thing,” Kregel said. “I know a lot of times my parents would try to control Lou and get her to be a little bit more of a conformist, which was never her style.”
Not only did Kregel dare to pursue a career considered unattainable for women at the time, she was always one to rebel in her daily life.
“(In school) we had to stand and put (our) hand on (our) hearts and sing the National Anthem, but I would sing Beatles songs, (such as ‘She Loves You’) quietly to myself. I was like, ‘I’m not singing that damn song,’” Kregel said. “I’m gonna sing what I wanna sing.’”
From then on, Kregel filled her time with drawing, painting and coloring as she was trying to figure out what art career path she would take. It wasn’t until her final year of high school that she found the answer to that question.
“I let fear be the conductor of my life when I was young and I wish I hadn’t. As soon as someone told me I couldn’t do something and I tried it, I realized I could do it.”
— LOU KREGEL,
Athens artist
“I don’t think I really knew until my high school senior year. We were making potato stamp prints and I started printing and the negative space that I created in my print was a shape I hadn’t intended to create. It was like if you don’t know the combination (to a lock) and suddenly someone finally turns it to that right number and you feel yourself unlock,” Kregel said. “(That’s when I knew I was) a pattern designer.”
After graduating from high school, Kregel attended the University of North Texas and began studying textiles.
“My college experience was quite unusual. I took the same class over and over for four years so I had access to the facilities,” Kregel said. “I had a little line of scarfs I’d sell in Dallas and I would sneak in the (schools) window and I would print all night with my friends. My teacher had no idea that this building had a whole night life.”
Not only did Kregel apply the techniques she learned from printing, but also from her teacher Shigeko Spear and her tranquil methods of producing art.
“I had this incredible teacher and she had this work ethic that just knocked me out. I’d walk in the building and there wasn’t a single sound except her squeegee on her silkscreen. It was like a zen experience,” Kregel said. “A part of (her) personality really informed me about new ways to work instead of just clouding up your mind and your space with noise.”
After college, Kregel began implementing Spears’ methods into her daily life, while simultaneously trying to get as much real world experience in the art field as she could as she could.
“I lived for a while in Dallas and I was basically just getting experience. I didn’t really know what it was all gonna add up to, but I was just exploring opportunities that would come along,” Kregel said. “I was just going with the flow. I ended up leaving Texas and moving to Florida and from there I moved to Athens.”
Once arriving to Athens, Kregel began trying to make a name for herself by selling her art in local venues.
“(When I moved to Athens) I just made a point of having a show four or five times a year. It was almost always in restaurants and bars but that’s where people were going. I figured as long as I had work up, and I could sell one or two pieces then I could pay my rent,” Kregel said. “After a while I would meet people and they would be like ‘Oh, I know your work.’”
Once Kregel became a well known figure in the Athens community, she began to be approached by people interested in her art, thus the creation of The Chrysanthemum Project.
“When I was asked to paint that first one, (the owners of Big City Bread) didn’t say ‘Come paint a chrysanthemum.’ They said ‘Come paint some image that’s gonna improve the way people feel when they’re here.’,” Kregel said. “The idea of the chrysanthemums (is that) there are six auspicious flowers in feng shui, and one was the chrysanthemum and it’s supposed to invite happiness into your home.”
Since the creation of the chrysanthemum 10 years ago, Kregel has painted hundreds flowers all over Athens and the United States.
“I put (the first one) up, and then I did another one, and then someone asked me to do another one, and then I thought, ‘Well, this will be fun, I’ll do a little free project and paint them for free all over town.’ About a month later, (I was like), ‘What am I thinking, I’ve gotta pay my bills,’ so I started asking like a hundred dollars and I got 30 people signed up,” Kregel said. “I got those done and a hundred dollars is not enough, so I doubled it and I still had people going, and I doubled it again. Finally I’ve gotten to the point where it’s making enough money for me to survive on just painting chrysanthemums.”
As the chrysanthemums became more popular, Kregel made a stencil she could use to paint each one.
“It was just in her DNA. Growing up, Lou was always happy just doing her own thing. I know a lot of times my parents would try to control Lou and get her to be a little bit more of a conformist, which was never her style.”
— LESLIE KREGEL,
Lou Kregel’s sister
“I was going through my stuff and came across this little spool of ribbon and it had the very first chrysanthemum image on it,” Kregel said. “I took it down to Kinko’s and I blew it up and I painted it, and when I started getting more requests I realized I needed to be painting one that I had designed and not using someone else’s design if I was gonna accept money for it.”
While Kregel is very well known for the Chrysanthemum project, she also has other work that can be seen around Athens such as, the “Five Star Day” design, clothing, and puzzles.
“(When I started out it was mostly) The Chrysanthemum Project, but now there’s clothing that my friend Irena did where she took my flower images (and put it on them), and there are puzzles I licensed my patterns for,” Kregel said.
Clarke Central High School arts department teacher Eunice Kang has built a friendship with Kregel through her art, as well as the community work she has done in Athens over the years.
“Lou is a very free spirit. She always has little secret projects going on, like she replaced all the flower beds at the Rocksprings Community Center,” Kang said. “She’ll find a random place in the neighborhood that anyone else would over, and try to clean it up.”
Kang is not the only member of the Clarke Central community who is familiar with Kregel’s work. CCHS counselor Angelia Bruce has a both a chrysanthemum in her office as well as home.
“I can’t tell you how much happiness (my chrysanthemums) bring me,” Bruce said. “The Chrysanthemum Project, is just my favorite thing that she does. It’s beautified Athens so much.”
Kregel works to preserve the integrity of Athens as well.
“I’m a member of the Athens Arts Council. I did some work for my commissioner Melissa Link when she was running for office. She’s a friend of mine and I really wanted her to be elected so I did a few murals for her,” Kregel said. “I really love doing public work because it’s really fun and I think people need to have more fun. Everyone’s so serious, I want people to play more and if I can do a little more to facilitate that, I’ll do it.”
The amount of influence Kregel has had on the Athens community through her art was unintentional. However, the reason why she keeps painting is because she simply can’t stop.
“I just don’t feel like I have any choice. It’s kinda like it’s a faucet (that) I either turn off or turn on, and if I turn it on, it feels great, and if I turn it off, it builds up and I feel wrong. (I keep creating art) because if I didn’t, I’d die.”
— LOU KREGEL,
Athens artist
“I just don’t feel like I have any choice. It’s kinda like it’s a faucet (that) I either turn off or turn on, and if I turn it on, it feels great, and if I turn it off, it builds up and I feel wrong,” Kregel said. “(I keep creating art) because if I didn’t, I’d die.”
If Kregel had listened to those who told her art was the wrong path to take, there would no chrysanthemums to spread joy. Her influence on Athens would be non-existent. But she didn’t listen, and now Kregel and her art have become staples to the Athens community.
“I let fear be the conductor of my life when I was young and I wish I hadn’t. As soon as someone told me I couldn’t do something and I tried it, I realized I could do it. I realized I had been listening to people all along and they had kept me from doing a lot of things,” Kregel said. “Don’t be afraid of fear.”
While over the course of her life, Lou Kregel has learned many things about herself and the artwork she creates, there is one lesson that she holds above all others: Do not let anyone tell you how to live your life.
“Not all my decisions have been the best or the brightest, but I have learned so much from them,” Kregel said. “Be in control of your own life because you know what’s best for you, you know what makes you happy.”
