24 April 2016

Giving Them Their Due

Much of my work focuses on artists I admire -- whether they create visual art, music or literature.  And when I choose a subject, it's important to try to evoke the personality and something of the nature of their work.  

One early piece that never fails to draw comment is this graphite portrait of Salvador Dali:


El Despertar de la Memoria Persistente
(The Awakening of Persistent Memory)
2010

If you're familiar with Dali's work, you will recognize the touchstones immediately -- two of his paintings that never fail to resonate and are among his best-known pieces:


La Persistencia de la Memoria
(The Persistence of Memory)
1931


Sleep
1937

Admirers of Dali cannot go wrong by visiting the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida.  It is a trip!

The drawing of Dali was an homage.  This portrait of Richard Wright was meant to have a deeper, darker impact:


Native Son
Graphite on paper
2010

Wright's prose has a raw power that, when I first read Native Son many years ago as part of a college course in African-American literature, affected me profoundly.  In this piece, it was important to echo the horrors faced by African-Americans that Wright wrote about so eloquently.  In my mind, nothing symbolized that more strikingly than the shadow of a noose.

As always, I welcome your thoughts on the creative process.


"This novel picks you up by the scruff of your neck and doesn't let you go until the final pages." VB, London 


"Intriguing...kept you wanting more." JS, Illinois


"An amazing tale...that you cannot put down!" ML, Georgia







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