art

The Reverend

| khattakstudios
“The Reverend.” 12 X 18 on paper. Acrylic monotype by Stephanie Khattak.

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.


⁠

Baseball Season

| khattakstudios
“Donna at the Bat, 1960s.” Acrylic Monotype Print by Stephanie Khattak.

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

| khattakstudios
“McBrydes and Porter Kids.” Acrylic monotype by Stephanie Khattak.

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

| khattakstudios
“Beatrice,” acrylic and pigment on silk over vintage photo, by Stephanie Khattak.

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.

Art,Work and Cats on a Thursday

| khattakstudios
Desktop scene.

I’m always interested in how creative people structure their time, so I thought I’d share a little bit about how I work. Especially since what so many people see is just the finished product, and that is just the tip of the iceberg!

My artwork takes a long time to do. Not as long as, say, a photorealistic oil portrait, but it is very process heavy and needs a lot of protected time, as it is not work that I can start, stop and come back to. If the acrylic dries on the plate, it is unusable for my process, and if I try to rush through and end up with an off-center or flawed print, it’s back to the proverbial drawing board, or literal printing plate, to start over again.

So, printing the art itself is something I usually batch over one or two dedicated days of the week in my studio and in that time I can print roughly four pieces depending on the size and level of detail. (It also helps with cat control, as the kittens still aren’t allowed in there and I don’t like having to shut them out more than necessary. One, it makes me feel bad and two, they bang on the walls and rattle the door. I think the house panther is about three “aha” moments from unlatching the doorknob.)

An intelligent stinker.

When I’m not actively printing or hand-embellishing completed prints – either for my own work or commissions from others, I do a LOT of research. I would say that a typical week is 50 percent creating the art, 40 percent research, and ten percent admin/marketing/operations which includes things like invoicing, cleaning my work space, looking for and responding to promotional opportunities, updating digital platforms and responding to commission requests (not all of these tasks need to be done each week, thankfully.)

My days are structured like any other workday, usually getting started around 9-10 am and finishing around 6 pm for family and TV time with the kittens.

Bonnie loves TV. Here she is learning about culinary travel to Costa Rica.

I sometimes work over the weekends, and I’m always reading on my off-hours, and some of that is research time as well. On weekends I try to recharge and work around the house or go see shows by other artists for inspiration. But during the pandemic I have been mostly at home.

Because my work centers on the Pine Curtain Project, I am always on the hunt for compelling vintage images with compelling stories, ideally that contribute not only to my own family history, stories and memories, but also to the larger cultural history of East Texas. As I wrote in a previous post, I’m focusing on a few main topics this year, which is not to say that other images and themes aren’t included as well. But, I am finding so much information just on these topics, that I am very busy researching, reading, cataloging and analyzing information.

Combining my art so closely with writing and research complicates things in some ways, but in most ways, I feel that it leads to a more rewarding experience for me as the artist, and hopefully for the viewer as well. As a person who likes a little more structure in the day, I feel that this project lends itself well to providing that structure while still leaving plenty of room for the flexibility needed for the creative process to do its thing.

East Texas Loggers, 1930s

| khattakstudios
“Logging Team with HorsePower Engines,” by Stephanie Khattak. Acrylic monotype print. 20X26 on paper.

The early prosperity of East Texas started with trees, and the region had (and still has) plenty of those. There’s a reason I named my work “The Pine Curtain Project.” The part of East Texas where I am from is dense with pines – The Piney Woods. It is so much a part of the region’s identity that even today, the local university’s mascot is a Lumberjack, a popular local coffee shop is Java Jack’s, the best-known festival is the Forest Festival and the main drag in Lufkin is Timberland Drive. At the same time, the density of trees can either isolate or protect, depending on how you look at it. Like…a curtain. I imagine this “curtain effect” was even stronger before the timber industry moved in, cleared away and changed the physical, sociological and cultural landscape.

This image makes me think of the beginning of the end of an era, which I feel evolved over generations. It was a double-edged sword, or saw if you want a more thematically accurate metaphor. On one hand, clearing the trees made way for unprecedented economic and civic progress. On the other hand, once the curtain was pulled back, things would never be the same.

As I am more of an artist and less of an academic historian, please explore these links for citations and further reading:

Image Source: “Paul Durham, Sr. Hardwood Logging Crew,” The History Center.

The Texas Forestry Museum

“Aldridge Sawmill“, Texas Beyond History.com

Merry Christmas!

| khattakstudios

This year, I did three Christmas prints, two as part of the Pine Curtain Project, and another as part of K.Co Travel Art, a collaborative project that James and I are working on with our creative travel guide business, K.Co Press.

This print is my grandparents, on what is probably their first Christmas together in East Texas. I was told they’re at my grandfather’s parents’ house in Huntington, TX.

“Christmas 1950s.” Acrylic Monotype by Stephanie Khattak.

The next print is my aunt and two cousins. I believe they were at my grandmother’s house in Homer, Texas, all dressed up.

“Christmas 1970s.” Acrylic Monoprint by Stephanie Khattak.
“Vintage Truck, Palestine, Texas.” Acrylic Monoprint by Stephanie Khattak.

We saw this festive truck on a day trip from Dallas to Palestine, Texas. We met my parents there for some (extremely socially-distanced, outdoor, etc.) holiday time. We aren’t visiting our families at home this year since home is full of oldsters who we want to keep safe. We found Palestine to be the perfect place for a holiday visit, and this truck was just one fun scene in Old Town Palestine. I’ll write up a blog post for K.Co once James edits the rest of his photos, but I will go ahead and say that if you find yourself in Palestine, don’t sleep on Oxbow Bakery, aka the pie shop. (Literally, don’t sleep! Get there when it opens because many flavors sell out!)

This will be my last post for 2020. What a horrible year! I truly believe that next year will be better, maybe not immediately, but eventually. May your holidays be festive and your new year be hopeful. Thank you for your support, and I’ll see you in 2021!