It was impossible to document all of the important dancers of the era; however, certain individuals were notably exceptional. The purpose of this study was to document and illustrate some of those dancers who impacted and influenced the development of American vernacular dance during the early twentieth century through the mid-1940's. The individuals chosen were as follows: Dewey "Pigmeat" Markham, John Bubbles, Bill Robinson, Earl "Snakeships" Tucker, James Walker and Charles Green (Chuck and Chuckles), Katherine Dunham, Honi Coles and Cholly Akins (Coles and Akins) Josephine Baker, The Derry Brothers (Ananias, Jimmy and Warren), Eddie Rector, Willa Mae Ricker and Leon James. Emphasis was concentrated on capturing an accurate likeness of the individuals as well as on establishing a specific mood. Since all of the above-mentioned individuals were dancers, a special effort was made to recreate the lighting and aura of the stage.

Since I was a young child, I have had a deep interest in all facets of the cultures of early humans and more modern primitive peoples-- in particular, their art and their mythology. It was my proposal, therefore, to combine these interests with the styles of my earlier works by using images drawn from the various aspects of my ancestry in several pieces of work in which the layering of those images-- similar to the layers of my heritage-- was used. My choices were limited to a set number of images listed in a "dictionary of symbols." I continued to engage in on-going research of these symbols to determine if there were relationships in their meanings between the various cultural elements of my ancestry.

This project was an investigation into the specific influences upon my art produced by my living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for two years from August 1976 through August 1978. Initially, I had to make a major psychological and environmental adjustment. This period of adjustment, referred to as culture shock, was a time of personal confusion about the differences between the American and the Arabian cultures. I characterized my state of mind during this period as a psychological numbness and confusion. This adjustment period altered my interests so that the drawings I had done before I left the United States no longer held their original significance and new interests began to appear. I hope to identify some of the changes that occurred by examining and comparing my earlier drawings with those completed since my return.

In the history of ceramics my interest centers around times in particular cultures when ceramic containers were an essential part of life. I am most interested in functional pottery produced in nineteenth century North America between the years 1800-1870. This was a period in which some of the finest pots used for containing things were produced.

The purpose of this project was to develop a body of work in which the content has probable, if not definite, cross-cultural application. It was my intent to analyze images for their content and underlying themes. This collection of "image content" was to be used in the production of a body of work which hopefully would transcend cultural bias or limitations. I consulted art and anthropological texts, books, and periodicals (listed in bibliography) which contained images produced by different cultures.

Using this conflict between death and dying versus hope and new life, I searched for an undogmatic way to convey a Christian antidote to the despair and ugliness of post modern art. The struggle was to find the imagery, format, and media combinations to express a vision, with realism and hope, for the late twentieth century, in a unique and interesting context.