Musical Cousins
art blog
Four Musicians
Updates from the Pine Curtain!
A few months ago, the Texas Forestry Museum in Lufkin contacted me about providing a limited-edition of hand-embellished reproductions from my “Logging Crew” print for its gift shop! This is really exciting, because not only is the Forestry Museum a really solid East Texas history and cultural center, it’s also in my hometown and I have many happy memories of visiting it over the years.
If you are local in East Texas, I encourage you to go in and visit the museum’s newly updated space! If you’re not local, or not quite up to in-person visits, drop them a line for more information.
This wonderful collaboration kicks off my wholesale art program. If there’s a local museum gift shop, CVB or specialty retailer with a strong local focus where you would love to purchase my work, please tell them about me! I don’t sell reproductions of my work directly, so this program is a really great way for customers to purchase the pieces they like and support independent, local businesses at the same time.
This art is professionally reproduced on BFK Rives fine art quality paper, and each one is hand-embellished, making it a piece of truly unique East Texas art for sale. They’re sold unframed, so that you can display them to perfectly fit your taste and decor.
The Reverend
This monotype print is taken from a photo of my grandfather’s grandfather, the patriarch and a preacher in Deep East Texas. He had 24 children with two (consecutive) wives, and when he passed in 1940, he had a three-day funeral.
I asked my father about this man’s story, because he was the first that I know of to preach “independently” in my family.
I was told that after many years of preaching in one of the main denominations, Rev. Durham became dissatisfied with it. According to my dad, he then “sat under a tree and fasted for three days.” When his fast was complete, he had decided to break from that denomination and form his own East Texas church, which remains today in one of the area’s outlying communities. One-hundred years later, it is still maintained as a church and community center by his descendants, many of whom who are still active in the area as preachers and musicians.
This is the earliest preacher I can identify in this family line, and the religion he preached is hard to categorize. A bit evangelical – one of his sons claimed to walk on water and did, until local pranksters dismantled the underwater ramp he used in his demonstrations. At the same time, this side of the family has a very accepting philosophy of life and a “live and let live” attitude towards others. Music is central to the ministry, and I understand that sermons could go on and on and on…
While he was building his legacy as preacher, his brothers and nephews were busy feuding and fighting all over East Texas. I have found three feuds so far, two of them deadly, and I am sure there are more. I have a lot of thoughts about that, but it’s another post for another day.
Lizzie McBryde
This image was taken from a family photo of Lizzie McBryde, my great-great grandmother who lived in Huntington, East Texas. She was alive between 1871 and 1946. I would place this photo somewhere in the late 30s or early 40s.
East Texas Church, 1930s
Baseball Season
Spring means outdoor fun, and in the East Texas country, many of us were lucky enough to have playing field-sized yards or adjacent lots to play in. We could enjoy badminton, t-ball, dodge ball and many other games with whoever was around, using whatever equipment we could scratch up and throw at each other, inevitably making our own rules. This is a photo of my cousin in the 1960s, giving it all she’s got in a baseball game in the pine trees.
This community sportsmanship came to a halt in my generation after a bloody Red Rover, Red Rover battle in the church parking lot. But it was fun while it lasted.
The Huntington McBryde Kids
This is a family photo of my great-grandmother (in green), her siblings and her cousins. The little boy in the overalls, my great-great uncle Sherman, grew up to be a WW2 soldier killed in action in Sicily. I imagine growing up with so many sisters and girl cousins made him pretty tough and a great mediator.
Portraits on Silk
This is my great-grandmother on my mom’s paternal side. She passed in February 1978, before I was two years old, so she knew me, but I didn’t really know her. My mom says that they would bring her to my grandparents’ house to spend time with me, and that she really enjoyed that. I like to believe that I enjoyed our short time together, too.
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