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Ad Code: 4
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An example of work by Myrtice West
Artwork images are copyright of the artist or assignee
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This biography from the Archives of AskART:
|  Myrtice West is a contemporary folk artist whose life story has much
affected her work. When asked, Myrtice West eagerly explains what is
symbolized and why in each painting. The interpretation of her
religious art is a responsibility that she takes more seriously than
eating or sleeping at times.
Myrtice West was born in l923 in
Cherokee County, Alabama and has lived most of her life within a few
miles of her birthplace on a farm in the foothills of north Alabama.
She married at an early age and within a few years was told that she
could never bear a child. Unhappy, she began to paint and draw for
therapy. She spent years painting scenes from her area on whatever she
could find, often painting over old discarded paintings. She was
fascinated with photographs and sometimes would paint over them.
Then
after seventeen years, she became pregnant. "We were like Sarah and
Abraham, having a baby at our age. But God answered my prayers." When a
daughter was born, she began painting some religious scenes. It
was not until years later that Myrtice was "called to paint
Revelations," something that occurred in a series of night visions,
according to Myrtice. She prepared the largest surface she could
find. Myrtice says that her hand did not draw that first painting
of Revelations, and that it was created in the middle of the
night. "I was as surprised as my husband when the sun came up and
we had seen what I painted all night!" She was driven, obsessed,
to paint these oil paintings, often working six hours a day. When
one was completed, another chapter of Revelations followed.
Tragedy struck soon after she began painting Revelations.
Her daughter was brutally murdered. "Revelations manifested
itself in my life." Her two young grandchildren became Myrtice's
responsibility. Through it all, the urge to paint was not ignored.
After eight years of work Myrtice completed two series of works:
depicting the story of Revelations-- One set to be kept together,
another set to be separated, "just as God wanted me to."
Myrtice continued to paint series from the Bible during the 1990's,
including the whole books of Ezekiel and Daniel. She has been
honored by the Alabama State Arts Council several times and has been
widely exhibited in galleries and museums. In early 2000 tragedy struck
again. The antebellum home that Myrtice had lived in for most of her
adult life burned to the ground. Only a few of her paintings that were
in her possession survived.
Sources include:
Marcia Weber Art Objects
Chuck and Jan Rosenak, Contemporary American Folk Art, A Collector's Guide
Myrtice West passed away on April 12, 2010 at her home in Centre, Alabama.
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| ** If you discover credit omissions or have additional information to add, please let us know at registrar@AskART.com. |
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