Lendy is on a little trip in Maine, so I asked her to send me art. She sent me some text messages from the museum:
Ashley Bryan. He is heroic. (…) It’s not just the wretched tale of slavery. It is his curiosity and headlong approach to art. He made books, puppets, prints, paintings, collages. HE IS STILL ALIVE. He’s 95.
I looked him up. It appears this wonderful man is very well loved. I found an article in The Take Magazine about Bryan’s children’s book Freedom Over Me, on slavery. A children’s book on slavery. We’ve had several classes on art and activism at the League. Suzanne Walker made the point that it’s complicated to do both art and activism well. This is a socially powerful book, it’s written for children, and it’s artistically beautiful. In The Take Magazine, Bryan talks about this book:
“‘There was an auction about 10 years ago in Northeast Harbor of Civil War paraphernalia and slave-related documents,” he says, “and I bought a document for the purchase of some slaves. They just give you the name and the price.” He pulls the book from the pile on the table and opens it, revealing a detail of the document on the inside cover. “I did a portrait of each,” he says, “and I cut it out and pasted it on the documents. Then I imagined I asked them to tell me their story. After they did, I said to them, ‘If you were not a slave, what would your dream be?’”
I’m sorry to say that further reading reports it’s difficult to find copies of this beautiful book in Maine, because it’s assumed to be written specifically for black children, not all children. Did you hear that thump? That’s the sound of my forehead, hitting the table.
Below: Linocuts, studio space, and puppets made by the marvelous Ashley Bryan. Photo credits: Mount Desert Islander, Maine Boats Homes [gallery ids=”11637,11638,11642,11634,11636,11635,11645″ onclick=”link_no
I’ll be sharing my drawings on Facebook. I’d love for you to share yours too. Maybe your posts will help us more people jumping in to join us. Post your pics to Facebook: SeattleArtLeague, or Instagram: SeattleArtLeague. #drawingaday #seattleartleague – or email them to me. I’d love to see what you create!
A selection from Keith Pfeiffer’s Tiny Paintings Class Another word for Tiny Paintings is Thumbnails. Thumbnail sketches are often used to test out ideas, and making adjustments before launching into a big project. These itty bitty paintings are a series of low pressure color and composition experiments. This is one in a series of posts …
I used to view digital paintings as inferior to “real” paintings, requiring less skill. I’ve since come to realize the skill of digital work is no less challenging, and the medium can be every bit as sincere. Digital paintings require the artist to mix and apply specific color, value, texture, layers, and transparency – all …
We are halfway through our 30 day creative challenges, and there have been a lot of fun posts. These creative challenges are different than other challenges. Designed to foster a wide variety of creative skills, they are not restricted to any style or genre, and medium is artist’s choice. Our creative challenges have been categorized …
Ashley Bryan
I looked him up. It appears this wonderful man is very well loved. I found an article in The Take Magazine about Bryan’s children’s book Freedom Over Me, on slavery. A children’s book on slavery. We’ve had several classes on art and activism at the League. Suzanne Walker made the point that it’s complicated to do both art and activism well. This is a socially powerful book, it’s written for children, and it’s artistically beautiful. In The Take Magazine, Bryan talks about this book:
“‘There was an auction about 10 years ago in Northeast Harbor of Civil War paraphernalia and slave-related documents,” he says, “and I bought a document for the purchase of some slaves. They just give you the name and the price.” He pulls the book from the pile on the table and opens it, revealing a detail of the document on the inside cover. “I did a portrait of each,” he says, “and I cut it out and pasted it on the documents. Then I imagined I asked them to tell me their story. After they did, I said to them, ‘If you were not a slave, what would your dream be?’”
I’m sorry to say that further reading reports it’s difficult to find copies of this beautiful book in Maine, because it’s assumed to be written specifically for black children, not all children. Did you hear that thump? That’s the sound of my forehead, hitting the table.
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I’ll be sharing my drawings on Facebook. I’d love for you to share yours too. Maybe your posts will help us more people jumping in to join us. Post your pics to Facebook: SeattleArtLeague, or Instagram: SeattleArtLeague. #drawingaday #seattleartleague – or email them to me. I’d love to see what you create!
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