Harvey E. Beech

What an absolutely horrible day of painting! Nearly a complete waste of time. I was working on the portrait of George White and needless to say, I must have insulted the man in some other life because he was not cooperating. I had to re-sketch him many times before both of us were happy. I tried to apply some paint but apparently he had had enough and finally told me to walk away and leave him alone until tomorrow. Hopefully both of us will benefit from a decent meal and a good night of sleep and tomorrow we can begin again.


The dapper Mr. Harvey Beech on the other hand couldn't have been more pleasant. I have a few tweaks that will occur after George and I settle our dispute tomorrow but other than that, we're both smiling.

click to enlarge

Harvey E. Beech was born in Kinston, North Carolina, in 1923, the youngest of five children. Although Beech's father could not read or write, he saved his money and opened barbershops throughout the Kinston community. His business acumen afforded most of his children the opportunity to attend college. His youngest son, Harvey, however, was sent to Harris Barber College in Raleigh, North Carolina, since his older siblings' education had taken its toll on their father's bank account. Harvey's academic drive and passion for education led him to pursue a college degree. He earned enough money to attend Morehouse College, and his self-reliance, independence, and passion for changing social injustices propelled his interest in a legal career. To earn money for law school, he promoted black entertainers and opened a general store. In the early 1950s, Thurgood Marshall asked Beech to join a pending case against the University of North Carolina School of Law. Beech joined the case, along with J. Kenneth Lee. In 1951, Beech and Lee, along with James Lassiter, Floyd McKissick, and James Walker, became the first African American students to enroll at the UNC law school. Beech candidly discusses the psychological impact of desegregating an all-white institution, including his anger at having to give up his swimming pool privileges because of his race. He evaluates the strength of racism in American society, while adamantly arguing that the abandonment of racial discrimination and racial identities would eliminate barriers among all races and ethnicities.

LGFCU credit

If anyone has been reading these blog posts since the commission began, then you know that the project was dead until the Local Government Federal Credit Union (LGFCU) stepped in and funded the mural. Once again, THANKS! In an effort to highlight their involvement, I made it a point to include their logo in the mural in a couple places that didn't stand out too much. After posting the image of Abraham Galloway last night, I realized that I missed a perfect opportunity on the coffee cup he was holding.

I copied their logo in a vector program and painted it in this morning. Maybe I'll have a contest at the end of the painting to see if you can spot how many references to the credit union there are in the painting.

Abraham Galloway

Finally finished Mr. Galloway this morning. If I am not mistaken, there is a filmmaker in Chapel Hill preparing to shoot a documentary about Abraham's short but illustrious life. For a man that was born a slave and died at the age of thirty-three, you will be amazed at what he accomplished and see why he was chosen by historians for representation in this painting.

click on image for larger view

Biography: Abraham H. Galloway's mother was a seventeen-year-old slave, and his white father, John Wesley Galloway, was the son of a wealthy Brunswick County planter. Marsden Milton Hankins, a railroad mechanic (skilled artisan) and prosperous citizen of Wilmington, owned Abraham Galloway from infancy. Galloway received training as a brick mason and was allowed to work independently, as long as he earned enough to give his owner fifteen dollars each month. Craving freedom, Galloway escaped from Wilmington on a ship going north and arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in June 1857. From there he journeyed to the safety of Ontario, Canada, and became a spokesman for abolition. He maintained close contacts with abolitionists in Massachusetts and probably helped other fugitive slaves reach the safety of Canada. After the outbreak of war, Galloway returned to North Carolina to work for the liberation of African Americans.

Anna Holland

Anna Welthy Daughtry Holland (1871-1934)

Annie was an educator and promoter of public education for blacks. She was born in Isle of Wight County, Virginia, on land adjacent to the Welthy (also spelled Wealthy) plantation, the daughter of Sarah Daughtry and J. W. Barnes . Her grandfather Friday Daughtry had been born and raised a slave but during the 1860s was freed by the Welthy family. Annie had been named after Annie Welthy of the Welthy plantation.

I took an inordinate amount of time with Anna's image. I painted her with a wider brush with the intention of limiting the amount of detail. There are basically four different levels of portraits in the painting. The Greensboro Four stand in the forefront and are therefore rendered with the most detail and contrast. Anna starts the second tier of images so I tried to dull her out just a bit to try and create a depth of field. Click on the image below to expand it and you can see the difference in styles. The two guys standing behind her (tier three) will be even more faded. I'm finding out the hard way that painting lighter is more time consuming than the larger and more detailed images. I started on the guy to her left (Abraham Galloway) late today and will finish him on Saturday - I have to go to Charlotte to the McColl Center for Visual Art to attend a session of The Innovation Institute. That's two solid days of painting I will miss - a bummer since I'm in the groove right now, but hey, gotta do what you gotta do. By the way, she will eventually be holding a menu. I have an image of one of the original menu's used at the Woolworth lunch counter. I'll design one that looks consistent with the original but add in some interesting facts about that day for people to read.

The Greensboro Four

The starring four are finally complete (until I mess with them again). 

Now that they're done, the piece is starting to gain momentum. I've made it a point to paint everyday - which for me is a lot considering the fact that I don't like to paint that much. The only reason I do is because it's the only way I can see and share what's in my head with others. Make sense?


Larger detailed images and bios of Jibreel Khazan and Franklin McCain are posted beneath their pics after the break.

2 down, 38 to go

Today's near completion is David Richmond - number two of the Greensboro Four. You can read his bio after the break.

David Richmond was one of the original four who started the Woolworth Sit-ins. He was born in  Greensboro and graduated from Dudley High School, where he was one of the most popular students. During high school, he belonged to many clubs and participated in many sports. He was on the track team and in 1959 he set the state high jump record. At North Carolina A & T State University he majored in Business Administration and Accounting. After leaving A & T he became a counselor-coordinator for the CETA program in Greensboro. Forced to leave Greensboro because his life was threatened, he lived in the mountain community of Franklin for nine years. 

When his elderly parents became ill he returned to Greensboro to take care of them. David is the only one of the four that returned to live in Greensboro and he had a hard time finding a job as he had to fight the stigma of being a troublemaker. Finally, he was able to find work as a janitor for the Greensboro Health Care Center. In 1980, the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce awarded him the Levi Coffin Award for "leadership in human rights, human relations, and human resources development in Greensboro."

David was married and divorced twice, fathering three children. David battled many demons as he grew older, including alcoholism, and a sadness that he could not do more to improve the world he lived in. Richmond died in Greensboro on Dec. 7, 1990. He was 49 years old. A & T awarded him a posthumous honorary doctorate degree. 

In My Top 5ive

Every now and then you run across an artist that makes you stop and wonder what the moment must have been like when the art gods stretched forth from the heavens to anoint someone with the gift. If you consider such an artist a close friend and in my case, a certified mentor you have access to, then you are truly blessed. In my humble opinion, Tyrone Geter is such an artist.

Currently an art professor at Benedict College in Columbia, SC., he is a master of many styles but none so moving as his charcoal / multimedia drawings. The ease at which he composes visual narratives that shed insight into the African American experience is both baffling and exhilarating. His talent is only surpassed by his willingness to discuss and share with other peasant artists like myself who make it a point to hold him hostage whenever I can (and feed him) then make him impart the knowledge. Make it a point to spend some time on his site and you will begin to understand what I have known for some time now and am finally sharing.

tyronegeter.com

Happy New Year!

Glad to be back after the holiday break. I had to shut down and deal with all the stuff that the season called for. Our home was the family gathering place for Christmas and that meant my time to paint was limited. I found myself distracted and finally made the decision to just shut down until after everyone was gone. Now that I'm back to the canvas full time, the painting is going well and I'm feeling the groove again. When last I wrote, I was trying to have the four main figures completed before Christmas. Yeah, right. That's okay. I finished Joseph McNeill today with the exception of the hair which will have to wait until the background goes in.

Tomorrow I move on to David Richmond and hopefully will have him completed before the day is over. I can't tell you how much of a momentum boost it is to finally be able to look upon a face. After all the planning, research, gallery renovations, paperwork, canvas preparations, sketching and tedious prep work - the fun is starting. Seeing him standing there is like having a friend to talk to while I'm working. I'll have to hurry and complete his friends. As this process develops and I add more images as I complete them, I fell as though it is necessary to give you some background on these extraordinary people. Since Mr. Joseph McNeil is up first, here's a little about him:

Joseph McNeil was one of the original four NC A&T students taking part in the historic Woolworth lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, NC. (the Greensboro Four). On February 1, 1960, they sat at a segregated lunch counter in the Greensboro, NC, Woolworth's store. This lunch counter only had chairs/stools for whites, while blacks had to stand and eat. Although they were refused service, they were allowed to stay at the counter. The four students were aware that Woolworth’s would not serve blacks at their lunch counter but they sat down anyway, engaging themselves in a plan they had been discussing for a month prior to the sit-in. A Wilmington, NC native, he graduated from Williston Senior High School. Soon after high school, his parents moved the family to New York, where he was able to experience a much more open society. Joe came to North Carolina A & T State University on full scholarship, and found it hard to live in the segregated South. His roommate at Scott Hall on the A & T campus was another sit-in participant, Ezell Blair, Jr. Joe's breaking point came after Christmas vacation, when he returned by bus from New York, and was not served a hot dog at the Greensboro Greyhound terminal.

McNeil earned a degree in engineering physics from NC A & T in 1963. Thirty minutes after graduating, Joe McNeil was commissioned by the U. S. Air Force, and he spent six years as an officer and attained the rank of captain. He recently retired from Air Force Reserves, having achieved the rank of Major General. During his tenure in the Air Force, he started a series of diversity programs, which profoundly changed the culture of that institution. He worked in computer sales for IBM, as a commercial banker for Bankers Trust in New York City, and as a stockbroker for E.F. Hutton in Fayetteville. He now resides in Hempstead, NY. He is married to the former Ina Brown and they have five children.

Small world after all

It's starting to come together. What once was a large intimidating white wall with scant pencil marks is slowly, yet surely, beginning to reveal itself and grow smaller. The underpainting is going well and if I apply myself I may very well have the four main figures completed by Christmas (I seriously doubt it, but we dare to dream and believe in Santa). All in all, I'm satisfied...that is until tomorrow when the critical eye has been rested and once again opens and points out flaws that need to be addressed over a few cups of coffee. You never see it until the next day when you look at the previous days work and wonder why you were painting with your head up your ass. It's as if little art trolls are hiding in the studio and undermining your efforts on a nightly basis.

Franklin McCain

Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.)

David Richmond

For those wondering where the heads and hands are, they're coming. I'm concentrating on maintaining consistency in the garb first before dealing with a variety of flesh colors. I'm doing this, not you!

There's a certain degree of elation that eventually turns to melancholy on the slow walk home with the completion of each phase. I can only describe the source as a feeling that one day this is going to end and like Alexander, I will weep when there is no more to conquer. In art, the joy lies in the battle, not the victory.  

Working out the kinks

I'm starting to get back in the groove. There's a tactile feel to painting that needs to be reconnected with each and every time you approach the canvas. You start pensive, then after an hour the frustration leads to boredom with the confinement generated by a paralyzing fear that comes from thinking about an outcome too far to even fathom. You get tired. The brush feels like a mop handle spreading tar. You step away and get angry at the sight of confused effort. Dammit, quit thinking and paint. The strength of purpose overcompensates and now you move too aggressively and that's when it occurs...you fuck up. Nothing major, after all you've just begun, but there it is; the wayward stroke or the wrong color. No one can see it but you. Happens every time, it's part of the dance. You curse your predicament, question your judgement, wonder if you should start over but realize that's not a viable option worth pursuing so you stall; use the bathroom, get something to drink, change the music, pace the floor, stare at the canvas and in the end, do what you should have done hours ago - let go and quit caring. You negotiate terms with failure and after awhile you begin to relax and muscle memory takes over. Like a marathoner, you hit your stride, settle into a pace and eventually achieve a level of comfort that allows you to quit questioning the process. Even though you can't see it, you can feel the trust emerging, telling you that everything is fine. That's what I've been waiting for. Trust in the process. After two days of painting, it's finally here and I know I'm going to be okay. The image below is from day one. 

I finished the clothing and moved onto the next character's clothing. The angle of attack is to complete the four main characters in the painting and set a visually consistent tone amongst them before moving on. The goal is to have them completed before Christmas. Ambitious, but I want to get as far out front on this painting as possible.

www.quashie.com