The Twins from 1924


The Twins, 1924, Cledenon, Arkansas


My next door neighbor owns the consolidated picture of these children from 1924 (93 years ago) and asked me if I could do anything with the picture. The picture was in decent shape. I scanned it into my photos, cleaned it up achieved the first result. He and his wife pointed out their relations and I simply cropped the picture and captured them. The top girl and boy were twins. Life in Arkansas was simple back in those days.



Notice that most of the children don't have shoes. They only wore them, if indeed they had any during the winter. During cotton season children this old left school and went to the fields and helped pick the cotton. Some of my friends did this back breaking work up through the 1950s. There is a Cotton Museum in Scott, AR and one can see examples of how folks, black and white worked the fields.



One thing I noted is that they all appear healthy and robust. The smiles on their faces tell so many stories. In the small photo grouping the little girl in the front has so many freckles you can't count them. Even though they were poor they had to enjoy many things that kids do when they are that age. 

Dreamland






A project for Black History Month 2018. I started with this project as a picture of a singer along with two colors of flamboyant curves. Well, so much for that. I'm doing a show in February so I thought it would be fun to do picture of Little Rock's history and include information about the Dreamland Ballroom that provided an entertainment venue for "colored folks" as they were called in the era before and during WWII.

If one looks on the internet and searches on Dreamland, Little Rock, a ton of information appears. The building still exists and is in an ongoing restoration. It is used for special events. I wrote the names of some of the acts that appeared in the 30s/40s to show that they featured popular musicians of the day. The girl is a composite of what some of the singers might have looked like. The balcony is a facsimile of what exists today, along with the cracks in the walls. It was a fun project to complete.

I am giving it to the Hays Senior Citizen Center in North Little Rock, AR., for permanent display on their walls.  An African-American friend of mine is making the presentation. He was a major player in the "Dreamland" AETN TV show produced this year. It is on line for viewing. 

I'm in the "let it set" for a few days before I do the touch up for the art work. I also use a mirror to see how the proportions look before saying "it's done." Photographs also show flaws to correct and I use this technique on what I paint. I finished the touch up and had it framed. It looks great. For me, it opened the door to be more creative.

To see the YouTube video on the pending March 2018 Show; click:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm3piLH0b3k&index=2&list=PLPeGXc06UBbaI8pdd6bMwd97Hf5dja6--

To see more of my efforts check Google Photos link: 

https://photos.google.com/u/1/share/AF1QipNK1PPsmNXKYEK_4oXkp10YZ2y4YcgqcTVSn64EBCR78pcyA1bQ85hIc8Uva_9MOg?key=SlNKRkt4STFBS0Jya21OOGhaMmlpaWJPakxUZzhR