Sunday, July 1, 2012

Micheaux - A Journal Page

I decided that it was clean-up-scrap time for my art table and used gel medium and paint to add scraps to a journal page. After finishing the background, I was rummaging through my drawer of images and came upon this information about Oscar Micheaux. His parents were slaves, but as he was growing up, he had several positive experiences that led him to become an author (first book, 1913, The Conquest, the Story of A Negro Pioneer). Several more books came after that one. In 1915 D.W. Griffith produced The Birth Of A Nation, a silent film which promoted white supremacy, the Ku Klux Klan and racism. Micheaux became one of several black filmmakers to produce a film to counteract Griffith's film. Called Within Our Gates, it was extremely well done. Micheaux went on to produce 24 silent films and then more than 20 sound films. After his death in 1951, his name faded into history until the 1960's when South Dakotans rediscovered his works. He has earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and several other posthumous awards.

(click to see details)

Mixed media background is made from scraps lying around on my art table, gel medium, acrylic paint, rubber stamping; images were aged and added, and oil pastels help to give depth. Some of the scraps are torn baby wipes, stained with paint.


Come see my latest postcards I've received on Postcards Buffet!



2 comments:

  1. I had never heard about him! Thanks for sharing that!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have heard about him but it;s been years,thanks fir reminding me. It's a terrific journal page!
    Hugs

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