Keith Neltner wasn't raised in a barn, but his art is conceived in one. He is the saloon owner, preservationist and creative combustion driving Neltner Small Batch, a branding studio burrowed in an outbuilding, rooted in the rolling hills of Kentucky. The sons and grandsons of Waylon and Hank are among Keith Neltner's branding clients. As are a mash of distillers, brewers and candy Johnny Apple Treats. Keith's creations take place somewhere between the first Thanksgiving and Die de Muertos. His skull-heavy works are soulful and disjointed collections of neon, Dijon and Carolina blue. The canvases smell like a Baptist hymnal and serve as a backstage pass to Dante's second circle. His bourbon-soaked corner bar is Camp Springs Tavern, built as a cobbler's home in 1865. It is constructed from kiln-fired bricks, the clay dug from Four Mile Creek. The same bricks were used to construct nearby St. Joseph's Church. The Camp Springs valley, once one of the largest grape-growing regions in our nation, provides the soil that has nourished Neltner's since 1892. Keith is writing the nuevo psalm of the South.
2 Logos
2 Logos
