ART
MR. TWIGGS WAS A PROFESSOR AND ART TEACHER AT SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY WHEN I WAS A YOUTH. HIS SON KENNETH WAS KNOW TO ME BUT A YEAR OR TWO BEHIND ME IN SCHOOL.
WE ATTENDED A "LABORATORY SCHOOL" ON THE COLLEGE CAMPUS FROM 1ST TO 8TH GRADE. HE WAS WELL KNOWN AS A FAMOUS ARTIST EVEN BACK THEN (60'S) . I ALSO HAD AN INTEREST IN ART AND WON A FEW CONTESTS SO I HAD A ROLE MODEL TO INSPIRE MY "ARTISTIC EFFORTS". ALTHOUGH MY INTEREST WAS MORE IN COMIC ART LIKE "MARVEL AND DC", AS AN AVID COMICBOOK COLLECTOR TILL 8TH GRADE. OCCASIONALLY THEY WOULD TAKE ALL OUR GRADES BY SHIFT, TO SEE VARIOUS DISPLAYS AND GALLERIES OF HIS ART WORK.
WE WERE NOT PERSONAL FRIENDS, BUT HE WAS AN INSPIRATION TO MANY OF US. I WAS EVEN SELECTED INTO THE "GOVERNOR'S SCHOOL OF SC FOR THE GIFTED AND TALENTED" AND "STUDIED STUDIO" ART IN 1979. IT WAS A GREAT HONOR. I'D JUST LIKE TO PAY HIM THE COMPLIMENT. I HAVE TRIED TO LINK TO HIS WEB SITE BUT IT HAS SUDDENLY DISAPPEARED.
I MAY NOT AS AN ADULT AGREE WITH ALL THE "CONTENT HE HAS PRODUCED" AND HAVE "AN OPINION". BUT AMONG THOSE OPINIONS IS I CANNOT DENY HIS MASTERY OF ARTISTIC SKILL.
MR. CECIL WILLIAMS IS ALSO A WELL KNOW ARTIST IN OUR COMMUNITY AS I GREW UP. I HAVE MET HIM SEVERAL TIMES ABOUT TOWN AND SEEM TO REMEBER MY PARENTS KNOWING HIM, BUT AGAIN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS I DOUBT HE WOULD REMEMBER ME. HIS FORTE WAS PHOTOGRAPHY AS HE OWNED A PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO IN MY HOMETOWN.
WHAT MOST IMPRESSED ME WAS HIS WORK DURING AND RELATED TO CIVIL RIGHTS AS IT WAS SIGNIFICANT IN OUR HOMETOWN WHICH IS KNOWN FOR THE "********(CITY NAME HERE)" MASSACRE. A SITUATION WHERE OVER 20 STUDENTS FROM THE COLLEGE CAMPUS WERE SHOT "IN THE BACK" BY LAW ENFORECEMENT AND THE NATIONAL GUARD. SOMEONE HAS PLACED A "DISTORTED" VERSION OF THE MASSACRE ON WIKIPEDIA IN ORDER TO TRY AND DISPELL THE TRUTH OF WHAT ACTUALLY OCCURED, OVER 30 YEARS AGO . 2 STUDENTS DIED. AND ONE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT VISTING THE COLLEGE CAMPUS ON HIS WAY HOME FROM WORK WAS KILLED ALSO ANOTHE LADY MISCARRIED HER CHILD. THERE IS A "MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM" BUILT IN THEIR MEMORIAL ON THE SOUTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS. BEING ONLY 5 AT THE TIME . I AM KNOWN TO A FEW OF THE SURVIVORS OF THE INCIDENT AS THEY LATER BECAME COLLEGE PROFESSORS AND OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY WHO GAVE ME THE STORY 1ST HAND AS WE GREW UP AND 13 YEARS LATER AS I ATTENDED THIS UNIVERSITY.
PLUS MY KINDERGARTEN BEING ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE SHOOTING ON THE DAY OF THE INCIDENT, I AM AWARE OF MORE. NO ONE HAS EVER BEEN ARRESTED OR CHARGED SINCE THIS INCIDENT. NO GUNS FOUND, NO WEAPONS. ALL VICTIMS WERE SHOT IN THE BACK. THERE IS A DOCUMENTARTY MOVIE "FILMED IN 1968" WITH ALL FACTS "WHEN THEY WERE CURRENT". SEVERAL SCENES OF THE MOVIE SHOW PLACES "I LIVED"(WITHIN FEET OF THE SCENES) IN THIS TOWN SO I CAN PERSONALLY AWARE OF CREDIBILITY.
MR. WILLIAMS IS ALSO "FORWARD THINKING" AS HE BUILT THE FIRST "SOLAR POWERED" HOME/ STUDIO IN MY HOME TOWN IN THE 1970'S. AS A MATTER OF FACT, I LIVED LESS THAN 3 MINUTES DOWN THE ROAD FROM HIS HOME. I'D LIKE TO HONOR HIS DEDICATION AND "TECHNICAL ARTISTIC SKILL", NOT ONLY AT PHOTOGRAPHY BUT AT "PRESERVING HISTORY" THROUGH ART.
MR. LEE IS A GREAT FRIEND OF MINE. I'D LIKE TO CONSIDER HIM MY "SENSI". .
I THOUHGT I'D BE ON THE NEWSPAPER STAFF IN HIGH SCHOOL AS ANOTHER WAY TO ACHIEVE AND BE INVOLVED. SINCE I DID A LITTLE "CARTOONING" I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE EASY TO BE THE NEWSPAPER CARTOONIST. MR. LEE MOVED TO MY TOWN THE VERY YEAR I 1ST ATTENDED THE HIGH SCHOOL AND WAS ON THE NEWSPAPER STAFF ALSO. HE SHOWED UP FOR NEWSPAPER STAFF AS WELL. IT DIDN'T TAKE BUT MOMENTS TO LOOK AT HIS ABILITY TO REALIZE HE WAS THE "FAR SUPERIOR" ARTIST. ALTHOUGH IT WAS DREAM I DESIRED. I INSTANTLY COULD SEE THE WAS THE "RIGHT MAN" FOR THE JOB WITHOUT MALICE OR ENVY. HIS SKILL WAS "INCREDIBLE".
FOR THE PREVIOUS 6-7 YEARS I HAD BEEN COLLECTING COMICBOOKS WITH MY BEST BUDDY MR. HWANG. WE WERE AVID COLLECTORS AND I "THOUGHT" I UNDERSTOOD COMICS. MR. LEE, COMING FROM CHICAGO, HAD A GREATER INSIGHT, A WEALTH OF INFORMATION AND KNOWLEDGE ON THE ARTISTS AND WRITERS AND INNER WORKING OF COMICS THAT BROUGHT ME INTO THE "REAL WORLD" OF WHAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT. THIS "OPENED MY EYES" TO A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF WHAT I HAD BEEN DOING FOR YEARS.(HE EVEN GOT ME TO APPRECITE "JACK "KING" KIRBY" - I DID NOT "UNDERSTAND" UNTIL HIS APPRAISAL OF HIS WORK.)
HIS COMIC ART SKILLS AS WELL AS HIS FINE ART SKILLS WERE "UNPARALLELED" IN HIGH SCHOOL. HE WON A "SCHOLASTIC ART AWARD" IN 1979 FOR HIS DRAWING AND POLITICAL COMMENTARY. HE TALKED OF THE "CHICAGO INSTITUTE OF ART" AS A INSPIRATION AND POSSIBLE DREAM FOR HIS FUTURE. NEEDLESS TO SAY HE HAS ACHIEVED THAT AND MORE. TO SELECT A DREAM IN HIS TEENS ONLY TO ACCOMPLISH EXACTLY WHAT HE SET OUT TO DO.
ON OCCASION HE WOULD LAMPOON OR MAKE FUN OF "ME AND THE ROTC DEPARTMENT" IN AN OCCASIONAL SCHOOL NEWSPAPER CARTOON. I WAS HONORED TO BE MADE FUN OF AS "HE DID IT IN GOOD SPIRIT" AND THE KIND OF ART ACCURACY EVERYONE RECOGNIZED IT WAS ME ..."THAT WAS SKILL".
HIS SKILLS LED HIM TO BE CHOSEN TO "DRAW THE SCHOOL 1980 YEARBOOK COVER". WHO ELSE DO YOU TRUST TO DO THIS EXCEPT A "REAL ARTIST". I WILL POST THIS COVER LATER AS I GET TIME TO "SCAN IT IN".
HE IS A "WISE GUY" AT TIMES WITH A "GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR" - I DID NOT REALIZE UNTIL THE YEAR BOOK CAME OUT- HE HAD PHOTOGRAPHED ME WITH ANOTHER FEMALE ART STUDENT - WHICH LED TO ME HAVING TO SUPPLY "EXPLANATIONS" TO MY THEN GIRL FRIEND WHEN THE YEARBOOK CAME OUT. (EXCELLENT PARCTICAL JOKE).
. TO THIS DAY I ADMIRE HIS SKILL. HE TAUGHT ME A LOT, THOUGH IT MAY NOT BE EVIDENT IN MY ART. BUT MADE ME CONSCIOUS OF "ANATOMY, ACTION AND PERSPAECTIVE, SHADOW AND TECHNIQUE- MORE THAN THE ART TEACHER." THAT NOW I AM CONFIDENT OF WHAT I CAN PRODUCE, BUT STILL VALUE HIM AS A GREATER ARTIST AND GOOD FRIEND. ALTHOUGH WE HAVE NOT SPOKEN IN 38 YEARS. I AM GLAD HE JOINED MY "FACEBOOK PAGE". "HERES TO LARRY".