A portrait of Winslow Homer

Sitting in his cluttered office littered with books, papers and shelf after shelf of videos, Memphis professor Steven John Ross was excited to talk about his latest project.

Ross' film, Winslow Homer: Society and Solitude, makes its television debut next Thursday on PBS.

The movie, written, produced and directed by Ross, documents the life of Winslow Homer, a painter in the 19th century who was best known for his work on marine subjects. Homer worked at Harper's Weekly, a monthly, general-interest magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance and the arts, who sent him to paint images that covered life before the Civil War, during the war, and after the war.

Ross' fascination with Winslow Homer began when he saw Homer's "Searchlight on Harbor Entrance," Santiago de Cuba (1901), a painting of a Harber in Cuba in 1893, during the Spanish American War.

"The first time I saw it, I was dumbfounded that it was by Homer," Ross said.

Ross said his feeling about the intricacy of Homer's artwork relates to his thoughts of American cinema.

"When I was in my teens, what I found was if you were serious about film, it was European films," he said. "When I got older, I realized great American films were as complex and as meaningful. They are so likeable. I've always felt that way about Homer."

Ross said a lot of people never took Homer's work seriously because of what he painted.

"He is so complex in terms of his painting," Ross said. "You can see society and his emotions He can be looked at from so many different points of view. His work has that much potential."

When he moved to Memphis in 1981, the thought of doing a movie about Homer came to him, but it just kept getting pushed back. He said it didn't seem right to do a film about a "Yankee painter" here in Memphis.

Although eight of his films have been shown on public television, Ross still gets a kick out of it.

"It's great when hundreds of thousands of people are watching when you are watching it," Ross said. "That's a great feeling, but it's with an audience when you get to experience it. That's a great experience. You feel like you are connecting with an audience. They are passionate about it."

Ross and his crew started production in 2000, and the documentary premiered at the Paradiso in March 2007. To make the movie, they raised $150,000.

"Their premiere was packed," said Patty Bladon, a former assistant director of brooks Museum and current development director for CCFA. "People were wonderfully excited. They were all proud this was a product of Memphis."

Bladon, who was trained as an art historian and worked at museums for years, said she knew the film was a sure thing when she heard what it was about.

"Winslow Homer is the most popular of 19th century painters. Because of that, I was excited to help Steve in whatever way I could."

Bladon said she was very proud of the film.

"It has taken on a life of its own because of its quality," she said. "It has been screened at many museums. It's also been screened overseas. It's an important contribution. Before this was completed, there wasn't a film about this artist."

Ross has covered a variety of topics in his films including sharecropping, civil rights, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Memphis Red Sox, but he likes to stick to one area.

"I like history," he said. "The biggest of my two fiction films was set in the 1930s. The film I'm working on now is set in the Civil War period."

Ross said he always knew he wanted to work in film, and it all started the age of 12.

"I saw Lawrence of Arabia and 81/2," he said. "It knocked me off my feet. Everything in the world looked sharper and clearer. Every conversation was crisper. Every leaf was suddenly highlighted. I figured, if this medium could have this effect on me then I want to learn more about it."

After that he went to University of Southern California, one of the few film schools at the time, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts. Then he went to State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he earned his Masters of Arts.

Since the film is finished, Ross said his big concern now is distribution.

"After you give birth to a film, you have to be a good parent and distribute it," he said. "Now it's so popular, it's basically on its own."

He said he always feels different about the movies once they are made.

"Once you do a movie, it's a home movie," Ross said. "You always remember what you did that day or how the shooting went. The response to it always varies. Some days you wonder why people even liked it, and others, you say, 'Wow, that was good.'"

Ross said finishing a movie gives him a feeling similar to the one he gets when he's done mowing the lawn. He calls it "delayed gratification." Now that it is finished, Ross wants students to know one thing.

"The first half of the film isn't just about a painter," Ross said. "It's about Homer finding himself, and how his work relates to the time period he works in."

Winslow Homer: Society and Solitude will be shown Thursday, Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. on WKNO Channel 10.