Density = Death
Inspired by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) which is causing a worldwide pandemic, is more contagious when in situations of crowding. The increased population leads to increased rate of infection as has been seen in nursing homes, prisons and meat packing factories. Therefore, these situations are associated with some of the highest number of deaths due to Covid 19. This oil painting depicts a deadly scenario of inmates in a crowded prison. The subtitle is “Thin it, don’t defend it”!
Painting
Class of 2020 Masked
Inspired by the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, this is the first time in America’s history when thousands of graduates will not be given the opportunity to celebrate their graduation as students in the past. They are denied this rite of passage through no fault of their own. This COVID-19 moment can never been undone but the growth through this experience is priceless.
Painting
Born Black And Lucky
Lucky dedicated to celebrating the beauty in African girls and to promoting their positive self-image. Parents and educators of all races, ethnicities, and cultures are encouraged to read Lucky, the book written and illustrated by Shirley Whitaker with girls and engage in a discussion afterwards on the true definition of beauty as it relates to ALL girls, especially those of African descent. Learn more about Lucky and the book at BornBlackAndLucky.com
Painting
Never Forget
These who took the lives of African Americans on a whim and subjected them to brutal anquish,
immoral treatment and unimaginable discorse. Never Forget. American History through the lens of lynching was born through
Ashes to Ashes, founded by Shirley Jackson Whitaker. Someone once said to Whitaker, "that's so depressing" and Whitaker replied "If you think that's depressing, try hanging from a tree." This painting was the centerpiece during the first funeral service for those African Americans who lost their life because of the color of their skin by the hands of other Americans. Learn more about Ashes to AshesPainting
Don't Suppress The Vote
Advancement Project to help Finance The Fight against voter suppression. Advancement Project is a multi-racial civil rights organization. Founded by a team of veteran civil rights lawyers in 1999, Advancement Project was created to develop and inspire community-based solutions based on the same high quality legal analysis and public education campaigns that produced the landmark civil rights victories of earlier eras. Learn more at DontSupressTheVote.com
Painting
La Teethfa
The Little Fisher girl (La Teethfa) It was the first painting that I did of a person. I was so excited because it looked like a human being. You have to love her because she is so happy with so little. Because of her tooth loss, she has become known as "la Teethfa". Although She is losing her teeth she has gained some mighty impressive fish. La Teethfa rocks!!
Painting
The Shadows
Mysterious and spiritual figures each touching and being touched yet not clarifying whether they are going or coming. This piece was inspired by an effort to depict figures moving together yet free with certainty and unwavering strength and confidence.
3'1" X 2'1" Oil on Canvas
Big Ma, Sugarcane and Me
My grandmother was called "Big Ma" and the name fit her well. She was a big broad woman with wide hips and tall stature. Her world was her six grandchildren of which I was the last. She knew what was special to each of us. She knew I loved sugarcane and hot sweet potatoes and always made sure she gave me both. When she peeled sugarcane she would place the small cut piece on her left thigh. She seemed to cut them to fit a 5-year olds mouth just right. I would lean on her left knee raking the pieces in my mouth as fast as possible. Sometimes with my eyes closed, I would lean on her soft big thigh and taste the sweet water slowly tingling down my throat. Nothing better on a hot Georgia day!
Painting - Mixed Media/Etching
Grass Dolls
In the corner of my small world, every little girl made her own grass dolls. I am not sure who taught me how to make them but I did and I loved it. They say slaves passed it down. Somehow, I knew which grass to select and how to wash away all of the dirt on the roots which would become her hair. How I knew at the age of about five of how to braid her hair is a mystery to me but braiding I did. After her hair was in place, I would insert a stick in the grass near the beginning of the root or should I say hair. I would secure the new arms with a string. Then I would select her dress material from remnants that my mother had from making clothes for 5 girls. I would cut the cloth into a rectangle with a hole in the center that would be the opening for the head. I would enhance the shape of her body by tying a string around her waist. I would love to line them up and sing and talk to them. They never seem to complain because I made it my job to make them happy.
Painting
Working Mother
I was inspired to do this art piece because I wanted to recognize the hard work that women had done to help provide for their family. They often labored in the fields for long hours with their young babies in tow. I feel they should never be forgotten. I wanted to use charcoal medium to highlight the beautiful dark features of the mother.
Charcoal
The Usher Board
My mother was a member of the usher board. She declared that, "I can t sing but I can serve the Lord just as good as anyone else in my on special way". And she did! She found such joy in being apart of this church group. It did not concern her that often the usher board is overlooked because they don't sing or shout like others in the church. The ministry of the Usher Board was to keep some sense of order to the sacred experience of the church's worship. It is often very difficult to enter an African-American church without passing by an usher. He or she will make sure you have a fan, church program and an offering pan to place your money. They worked to keep an orderly flow of the worshipers to prevent overcrowding. If you needed a seat, they would find one for you. There were Ushers assigned to the front, side and back of the church to insure that every need was addressed quickly and quietly to not hinder the normal flow of the service. So they could be readily recognized, they are all dressed in similar attire. What they wore each Sunday, may vary from church to church. In my hometown church, they wore white for communion Sunday, black for funeral and navy or burgundy for the other Sundays. It was important for them to be aware of every activity during the service. For the ushers assigned to be in the back of the church they could have a good overview of what was happening throughout the church. Because of their positions, they would know your every move, which was often a troubling prospect if you were a restless child growing up in a church with strict rules of conduct. They never hesitated to inform your parents of your excessive talking doing the sermon or chewing gum throughout the service. Your parents would always assure them that that would not be a problem next Sunday. Lord be with us until we meet again!
Painting - Mixed Media
Cotton Pickers
After the invention of the Cotton Gin, this resulted in the increased harvesting of cotton and the need for African slaves to come to America.
The slaves were brought to this country to harvest the increased cotton, working for over 200 years as free laborer. Because of the torture they endured, these cotton fields lead to the death of many. The result of those times is still felt today. We all must remember, cotton did not grow under trees. So you were under the sun from sun up until sun down. The only thing you could be sure of was fields with low growing backbreaking cotton, unrelenting sun, dry hot sand and snakes. Despite the fact that this work could be so dehumanizing, I wanted to show that these young boys were very proud of who they were. They are not looking down but instead looking straight at you ready to give you eye-to-eye contact. They were a family working hard to make a living. On this canvas, I placed real cotton because so few people had ever seen or touched the white monster that destroyed so many lives. I thought that time had come.
Painting - Mixed Media
Church Ladies
The strength of any African-American church has always been centered on African-American women. It is well known that they are the pillars of the church. For them, it has always been a place of refuge from a country that did not celebrate but worked to destroy them. The church has been a place they could celebrate their talents to sing and their freedom to pray. For women who often worked in service job with set uniform, the church gave them the opportunity to dress with their fancy hats and clothes at least one day a week. This was a place where they were addressed as "Mrs. or Miss" and not by their first name. This was a place that celebrated them as strong women and nothing less. Because of this, they felt they were somebody despite a world that tried to convince them otherwise. Thus, the goal of this painting was to try to capture the strength of these women and of show how proud they were and how this was celebrated by them dressing in their finest.
Painting - Mixed Media
The Wash Day Scene
It was a morning ritual carried out in most African-American families that was an all day event. The entire family was involved except for our father who was at work. The wash day started early in the morning with gathering and sorting all of the dirty clothes, priming the pump to get the water to go in the three large tubs, gathering wood to fire up the big black pot, making sure the rub board and soap were in their places. Before the wringer washing machine, every household had the rub board and three ring sized tubs. The first tub was where the rub board was used for washing, the second was for rinsing and the third had a bluing rinse to intensify the whites. The soap used was often the Octagon soap or home made lye soap. The soap did not have a sweet smell for it was made primarily from potash. My grandmother often used the famous black pot to wash my fathers clothes because he worked on the railroad and his clothes were filled with oil and grime. My brother s job was to keep enough wood there for my grandmother black pot. At the end of the day after the clothes had hung in the bright sun, the smell was awesome. It was as if spring had been captured in each piece just for you, making up for awful smell of the lye soap. After the invention of the washing machine, the gathering of the families for washday is no more. Only time will identify what has been lost for such a weekly gathering.
Triptych Mixed Media Painting
Sole to Soul Brothers
They never met but as evident by the hole in their shoes they had something unusual in common. Beside the fact that they were both community activist, they both walked endlessly to improve the lives of their people. So, we have two of the most famous men of our time bound by their weathered shoes. A street photographer in Atlanta took the photo of Dr. King. He said that Dr. King was sitting with his legs crossed at a local church one Sunday evening and so he knelt below the pulpit to take the photo thus capturing the hole in his shoe. He sold the photo to me for $5. That was a lot for a broke high school student. When I saw the photo of President Obama, I knew they had to finally meet as sole brothers. Now they have!! I often wonder when I see them together what would they say to each other. I suspect President Obama would thank Dr. King for paving the way for him to become the first African American president. He would let him know he was sorry he never lived to see all the great things he had worked so hard for come to past. Dr. King would put his hands and grip President Obama's shoulders and looks him straight in the eyes and say, "It was not meant for me to see the fruit of my labor in my life time. When I dropped the mantle, you picked it up. For that, I want to thank you for making my dreams your dreams. I live because you live. Because of you the touching of lives continues. You in such a short time have made it possible for all God's children to overcome! And for that I will be forever grateful!"
Painting - Mixed Media
First Sunday
These ladies enter the church all in white setting the stage for the centerpiece of Christian life, The Holy Communion which is often on the first Sunday of the month. Their names may vary dependent on the church. There may be referred to as deaconess, mothers of the church or missionaries but there is no doubt about their presence. Their entire attire is white from their attention getting hats to their sharp stepping shoes. The white is in keeping with their communion table, which is draped in white waiting for the most anticipated Holy blessing of the wine and bread.
Painting
Do Not Suppress The Vote
Because of my concerns about the needs for African Americans to Vote, I had a campaign in 2012 to encouraged voter participation. This included radio advertisement and fund raising (using notecards/t-shirts and a painting). I was unable to find a photo or painting depicting voter suppression; therefore I painted one showing how some whites aggressively worked to hinder African Americans from voting. This painting was introduces August 2012 at Harvard s Professor Charles Ogletree's Annual Martha Vineyard Forum organized by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute.
Painting
Lady in Hat
She has a touch of calm and sophistication that seems to be carved in her eyes. She is never looking away but seeming to look though you. Never needing your approval or acceptance. She wears her hat and her hat wears her. Together they are in perfect harmony.
4'1" X 2' Mixed Media