Monday, February 28, 2011

Jacob Lawrence Harlem Renaissance Artist


Jacob Lawrence, Migration Spreads (from the Migration Series)



Jacob Lawrence, One of the first Race Riots Occurred in East St. Louis (from the Migration Series)

Jacob Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000) was an African American painter; he was married to fellow artist Gwendolyn Knight. Lawrence referred to his style as "dynamic cubism", though by his own account the primary influence was not so much French art as the shapes and colors of Harlem. Lawrence is among the best-known twentieth century African American painters, a distinction shared with Romare Bearden. Lawrence was only in his twenties when his "Migration Series" made him nationally famous. The series of paintings was featured in a 1941 issue of Fortune magazine. The series depicted the epic Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North.

Go to this url to see the slide show of the complete Migration Series
http://www.phillipscollection.org/migration_series/flash/experience.cfm

Here are more of Jacob Lawrence's paintings. Click on the image to get a full view. What do you think of them?


Jacob Lawrence, Harlem


Jacob Lawrence, Story Painter


Jacob Lawrence, Barber Shop (click on image to see full view)

Julie Heffernan


Broken Home, Julie Heffernan


Enchantment, Julie Heffernan


What do you think of these paintings? Heffernan is painting NOW, yet somehow her paintings seem like from a different time and place... A "place" that reminds me of the magic of Graywolf, or just the possibilities of the imagination.

Art work by Annie Seikonia


Fence, Annie Seikonia


Graywolf, Annie Seikonia

We didn't discuss it. What do you think of the drawing of Graywolf?

Did the drawing influence how you imagined him?

Above Graywolf is a photograph Annie took that has a certain mysterious feeling to it I like. It's almost like I can see Graywolf in this scene. What do you think of it?

Check out more of Annie Seikonia's writing and art work on her blog, The White Cafe,
http://www.aseikonia.blogspot.com/

Plums


photo from FatFree Vegan Kitchen

The title of this blog is from William Carlos Williams’ poem of the same name.

This Is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

The poem was a note to Williams’ wife, Flossie. Instead of writing — Ate the plums! Bill or We’re out of plums. Sorry. Bill, he wrote this poem. Every day living can be the subject of poems. Just as every day people, can have a wolf as an imaginary friend.