COURTESY BONNIE DICKERSON
ARTS // calcium carbonate
// by Kathleen M. Mitchell
B
Bonnie Dickerson’s chalk art is popping up all over Jackson. 58
onnie Dickerson calls herself a crazed creative seeker. Her verve for all things beautiful and inspiring spills over into every aspect of her life and out into Jackson through her brand, Southern Sprout. Southern Sprout doesn’t have a single driving focus, but ebbs and flows with 32-year-old Dickerson’s artistic pursuits. “It involves all creative aspects of just kind of being me,” she says. Dickerson’s husband, Doss Dingli, also does projects under Southern Sprout’s umbrella—mostly woodworking and home DIY—and contributes to the blog the couple writes at southernsprout.com. Dickerson, a Gulfport native who moved to Jackson for work after Hurricane Katrina, earned a graphic-design degree at Mississippi State (she also studied some fine art while there) and is the art director of Mississippi Magazine. She started Southern Sprout in 2011 as a way to officially pursue some of her creative side interests. These days, graphic design, calligraphy and chalk art are Dickerson’s main endeavors, with chalk art being her most public contribution around Jackson. Her chalkboard artistry gives life to decor at The Manship Wood-Fired Kitchen, collaborative message boards at Josh Hailey’s HeARTalot space, much of Fondren Public, the Livingston Farmers Market and more.
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She evolved into the art form naturally after learning calligraphy at a Millsaps College community enrichment course. “The calligraphy took off for a little while, and that was keeping me pretty busy,” she says. Then, just about a year ago, some people saw her calligraphy and asked her to do a largescale piece on chalkboard for a wedding. Drawing inspiration from old signage, books and labels, Dickerson dove in and loved the new medium. “I think it helps that with a background in graphic design, you’ve got a lot of typography experience—layout and stuff like that,” she says. “Then, my fine-art background kind of merged with it, so it became a perfect little outlet.” Art is evident in Southern Sprout’s creations, which go beyond someone with nice penmanship writing on a chalkboard. Dickerson practices her craft on a huge blackboard in her house. “It’s my blank slate that I can sketch on and play, try new techniques with shading,” she says. “Of course, a main part of it is putting chalk on the board, but a lot of the creativity comes from taking away from the chalk with a wet sponge or brush.” Since creating her first chalkboard for the wedding, Dickerson has created chalk art for numerous private events as well as the two restaurants and HeARTalot. Soon, she’ll begin what calls phase two at Fondren Public, creating a big boomjackson.com