“We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waitin’ ‘round the bend,  

my huckleberry friend, Moon River and me.” 

 —Johnny Mercer (Moon River lyrics) 

Johnny Mercer and My Huckleberry Friend, Susie Chisolm 

One of the most valuable gifts I have ever received in my life was handed to me soon after I moved into my downtown Savannah City Market art studio in 2011. It was delightful serendipity.  

Located directly across the hallway from my art studio was the studio of sculpturist Susie Chisolm — and thus began a mentorship and a friendship that I will always treasure. 

Susie has created dozens of iconic images, including many for tourists and Savannahians alike to enjoy while strolling through this city’s famous squares. A work that’s become a favorite of so many locals and tourists is Susie’s sculpture of Johnny Mercer standing near the Savannah City Market in Ellis Square. 

Johnny Mercer was a legendary song writer, singer, lyricist and businessman. He was the co-founder of Capitol Records in Hollywood, California in 1942.  

Born to a distinguished family in Savannah, Johnny Mercer has always been considered as one of the city’s most favorite native sons. Susie Chisolm’s fabulous sculpture of Mercer leaning against a fire hydrant while reading a newspaper was itself adapted from an iconic photograph of him taken on a street corner near Columbus Square in New York City.  

The sculpture was commissioned as a 100th Birthday tribute on November 18, 2009 by The Friends of Johnny Mercer. A fascinating short film entitled Johnny Mercer: The Making of the Sculpture can be found on YouTube, documenting in detail the creation of Susie’s sculpture from beginning to end.  

After I first arrived in America from my roots in Russia in 1999, I recall one of the first movies that wonderfully captivated my newly forming ‘American imagination’ was Breakfast at Tiffany’s, starring Audrey Hepburn. Moon River, the film’s theme song, won Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer the 1961 Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also won them a Grammy.  

Later, when I arrived in Savannah in 2006 to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) to begin the formal art education I’d dreamed of obtaining since childhood, I learned that a native of this beautiful city named Johnny Mercer had written the amazing lyrics for the film’s fabulous theme song. 

And that’s the moment when this beautiful city of Savannah made perfect sense to me as an artist — and when it also became my permanent home in America. Up to then, I was a drifter, seeing the world. 

As Mercer wrote for Hepburn’s flamboyant character Holly Golightly to sing: “Two drifters, off to see the world. There’s such a lot of world to see. We’re after the same rainbow’s end, waitin’ ‘round the bend. My Huckleberry friend, Moon River, and me.” I was lucky to drift into the port of Savannah. 

Enjoy my quick en plein air painting of Susie’s sculpture of Johnny Mercer. It’s even better if you also hum the tune of his famous song. As you can see here, I painted a portrait of Susie practicing her craft. 

Please allow me to say ‘thank you!’ to Susie Chisolm for being my most dear Huckleberry Friend.