Being An Artist

I have always been interested in truth; in my art I look to present truth. It’s sometimes difficult to present some of the truths I find in my research. However, I made a commitment early in my research that I wouldn’t leave out difficult topics.

The Department of South Carolina Archives has been the source of my subject matter, while topics and details come from books. The first census of St. John’s Parish in Berkeley County, Charleston appears regularly on my paintings in different forms. It was the first document I discovered with free Blacks. There is a column near the end with, “All other free persons,” that lists Eady. I was amazed that free Blacks lived in the South and were counted on the census. Seeing my surname made it surreal. I knew then my research was going to be mind-boggling.

The concept of an artwork begins with a document which I think will make a good painting. I loosely imagine it in my mind. Interestingly, a few years before I started my research, I was going to paint the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights movement. As I was preparing, I saw Charlotta Janssen on Oprah with her Freedom Riders paintings and that brought an end to my idea. Later, though, I decided to go back to that concept and only use their faces for my series, because they contained a certain look I wanted. I decided I would loosely sketch their face on paper and then work out the composition.

I first sketch the portrait on the canvas, which has a wash of acrylic burnt sienna over acrylic cadmium yellow. I create the underpainting for the faces in oils with burnt sienna, yellow ochre, cadmium orange and red. I like the underpainting in my work to be warm. Next, I hit the music button and work on building layers. I have a trilogy strategy of including a person, at least one silkscreened document and maybe cotton. After a while of painting layers, sometimes with oils, or acrylic, I decide on where to place the documents that are collaged onto the paintings with acrylic medium. The documents are silkscreened on paper I age with acrylic paint, inks and watercolors.

In knowing that colors have psychological meanings, I take an inward turn in deciding colors and let the paintings speak their colors. Over the years as my art became topic oriented, I wanted the colors to relate to the message and for the documents to look distressed. I found myself drawn to burnt sienna, cadmium reds and oranges, then the paintings began to regularly take on those colors. My printmaking instructor Michael Ellison was a colorist and in my recent discovery, I learned I was influenced by his style.

I endeavor to teach history and improve social conflict with my work. I believe the path to a more united America will be through education, because accurate education has the ability to draw out better responses to conflict. Most actions are derived from beliefs. When a system continues to deny educational justice to all people, conflict will erupt, because those being educationally shortchanged will resist the system. Teaching multi-race history will develop a better sense of America’s identity. The images I create of free Blacks ignites a new concept that will expand the viewer’s understanding of the South. The core of division reverts to undereducating; therefore, these unresolved issues will continue unless an inclusive view is given.

My aim is for viewers to find freedom through knowledge. Although history can not physically change, my art presents an opportunity for a psychological change. It presents an opportunity for viewers to change what they thought about the South and allows the viewers to take a deeper look into narratives about the South.