Secrets of the Forest

                                                                 Series One,  Day 7 "Realization" by Augusta Savage Augusta Savage was born in 1892, as one of fourteen children in Florida to a very poor family. It is known that one of her first sculptures as a child was a duckling family, which she made out of natural clay found in her hometown and would most likely have been her toy. Her life was not an easy one and as an African American woman, who left her children with her parents to pursue her beloved art, in 1920, it never could be. It is said she arrived in Harlem with less than five dollars in her pocket! What belief in self, what passion drove her to make such a risky move! Augusta Savage was a major influence in the Black Harlem Renaissance. She taught some of its greats includ...

                                       Empress of the Blues by Romaire Bearden Day 6, Empress of the Blues by Romaine Bearden Romaire Bearden was known as "Romie " to his friends and family. He was born in Charlotte North Carolina in 1912 but moved when he was young to Harlem NY. His parents were politically active and W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Duke Ellington, and Romie's cousin Charles Alston were among the artists and activists that visited the Bearden's home. It was the time of the Harlem Renaissance, a time of great promise after the Great Migration from the south (which occurred from 1916-1970. It was a time where artists encouraged each other. A time when even though African Americans still struggled to have their work shown in galleries because of racism and had to have a fulltime (often menial) job to support their art. It was a time they believed in themselves and...

                       " I am with you                         But the history walks                         With me too!"                                                 Quote from Jean Michelle Basquiat                                                                                         D ay Five Jean Michael Basquiat' s "Defacement" 1983 Jean Michel Basquiat was a painter in the mid -1980's. He was an incredible colorist. His father was Haitian and his mother Peurto...

David Hockney "Fallen Timbers" 2009 Day Four: Fallen Timbers by David Hockney. David Hockney is one of the most recognized contemporary English artists and one of my favorite artists, who is still painting at 82 years old. He was born in Bradford in Yorkshire one of the great industrial cities of the North of England that had been dealing in textiles since the industrial revolution. Many of the inhabitants of Bradford when he grew up, would have been hard-working industrial workers. In his youth, it would have been a smoky city with houses blackened from coal used in the mills. Hockney's father was a clerk and Hockney once said he learned many of his better qualities by observing the qualities his father did not possess. In particular, he was talking at this time of his work ethic and the endless energy he puts into his work, which were qualities he did not believe came from his father. Hockney has a wide range of artistic skills he is recognized for his printmaking, dra...

                     : Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water " 1935. “ The mission of an architect is to help people understand how to make life more beautiful, the world a better one for living in, and to give (a) reason, rhyme, and meaning to life.” – FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, 1957. Day One: Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water." Frank Loyd Wright is often described as the Master of architect ure and in many ways he was. At first glance, you might feel this quote is perfect if you replaced the word 'architect' with "life" But the fact that he chose the word "architect" rather than "life," says a lot about Frank Lloyd Wright. He was a man who lived to excess he made a fortune but was forever in debt because he lived lavishly and had everything he wanted. Wright once admitted that his poor finances were likely due to his expensive tastes in wardrobe and vehicles, and the extra luxuries he designed into his hous...