Like your art with a bit of pop? Then Charles Buchanan may be your thing. The man has a knack for bringing iconic images into a setting that's as much familiar as it is creative. Buchanan's style evokes the old screen prints of the 1960s, or the advertisements on the side of a Southern brick wall. It's fun at the same time classic. Buchanan calls Birmingham his home, and you can tell; the Magic City shows up frequently in his block prints. But don't think you won't appreciate his work if you live outside Alabama. His style is fairly universal.

Buchanan is showing at Naked Art in Birmingham starting Friday night until Feb. 3. Click here to see the portfolio, read below for the interview, and get yourself to Naked Art Friday or Saturday for the show's opening.

Pine Magazine: You seem to have a style that is at the same time nostalgic as it is modern... do you agree with this description? How would you describe your work?

Charles Buchanan: I would definitely agree. I use vintage elements with the signs and architecture, but I feel like I give them a fresh energy and new life with the bold colors and design and layering. For me my work often feels like letterpress printing, screenprinting, pop art, or the old faded ads painted on the walls of any downtown area. It blends so many things I love: graphic design, old advertising, architecture, photography, travel, and the city.

PM: How long have you been creating art?

CB: I grew up drawing and cartooning, but when I really started traveling, I got more into photography. I wanted to move my pictures beyond simple photos, however. About four years ago, I rediscovered block printing -- which I initially learned in elementary school -- and I loved the graphic look that resulted from meshing the two mediums.

PM: How do you usually go about your work? Do you take the external inspirations -- such as Birmingham -- and bend them into your own style? Or do these places not exist, and instead you create them wholly?

CB: All of the places and things in my prints actually exist (or used to exist), either in Birmingham or some other place I've explored in the South. I really enjoy discovering/rediscovering these hidden gems. Then I take a photo and use the computer to turn the image into line art as much as possible. (In the case of buildings or signs that no longer exist, I'll scan vintage photos or postcards.) Using tracing paper, I capture the essential lines -- and occasionally alter the images if I want to remove or embellish things -- and then transfer them to a rubber block. I carve away every part of the image I don't want to see in the final print using metal gouges, and then I roll ink on the block and press it to wood or paper to create that final print. I press every print by hand so that each one has a unique, more natural look.

A lot of people ask me why I carve on rubber blocks instead of wood or linoleum. I prefer the rubber since it allows me to carve smoother lines, curves, and details. Plus if you have your fingers in the wrong places when carving on wood or lino, the gouges can give you a nasty cut. Ouch!

Now that I have more than 100 carvings, I like to layer, mix and "ghost" the prints to feature the familiar icons and landmarks in new contexts and evoke different moods. I really enjoy doing that. I feel like I'm using the city itself as an artistic medium.

PM: Can you tell us about the upcoming show at Naked Art? About how many pieces will you have?

CB: The new show, which runs from Jan. 12 to Feb. 3, is called "See Block City," and it will feature a room full of wall pieces and functional art, ranging from framed prints and giant wood pieces to T-shirts and clocks. About 20 of the individual prints are new, and I have combined those with my existing images to create around 150 separate pieces. For this show I focused even more on the odd, unique, or hidden wonders you can find along the streets of Birmingham and the highways of the South.

HL: Can you tell us a little about the upcoming HGTV feature?

CB: Recently I was selected to appear on "That's Clever!" a show that airs daily on HGTV. They came to the Birmingham area to film 17 artists and craftspeople. The shoot at my house was long and challenging-- for me creating art feels almost instinctual, so it was tough to explain it in sound bites while looking in the camera, maintaining the wacky energy the producers wanted, and smiling constantly. It was a lot of fun, too -- definitely not something that happens every day. I carved a block and then layered multiple prints on wood for my segment, which should air sometime this fall.

HL: What is your day job? How long have you lived in Birmingham?

CB: I am a magazine editor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where I work on three magazines and an electronic newsletter. I have lived in Birmingham since my senior year of high school, in 1989. I was born in Selma, Ala., and have lived all over the South, but Birmingham is the place I call my hometown.