A Journey in Color: The Art of Ellis Wilson (Hardcover)
Description
A Journey in Color: The Art of Ellis Wilson tells the story of a young man’s determined path to become a classically trained artist. Growing up in rural Kentucky in the early twentieth century, Wilson needed to convince his family and neighbors that art was a path worth choosing over becoming a farmer or teacher. And he had to find an art school that judged him for his talent and not for the color of his skin. How Wilson saw the world influenced his vibrant, groundbreaking art, as well as the lifelong pursuit of his dream “to paint all the time—everything of interest and beauty.”
About the Author
Jayne Moore Waldrop is a writer and attorney who loves telling stories about her native western Kentucky. She is the author of Drowned Town (University Press of Kentucky, 2021), an INDIES Book of the Year Award silver winner in fiction, and of Retracing My Steps (2019) and Pandemic Lent: A Season in Poems (2021), both published by Finishing Line Press. This is her debut children’s book.
Michael McBride, a Nashville, Tennessee-based artist and a professor at Tennessee State University, has illustrated over 75 children’s books. He was featured in Visions of My People: Sixty Years of African American Art in Tennessee, an exhibit organized by the Tennessee State Museum. He was commissioned to paint a four-story mural honoring US Representative John Lewis, completed and installed in downtown Nashville in November 2021. Too Black Too Fast is a touring art exhibit created by McBride to celebrate the history of African American jockeys in Thoroughbred racing and their contributions to the sport. McBride earned his undergraduate degree in art from Tennessee State University and his graduate degree in painting from Illinois State University.
Praise For…
"Ellis Wilson knew his calling early….Waldrop’s transparent narrative stays right next to Ellis, and McBride’s illustrations follow her lead, keeping the reader close to the emotional truth of the story."
—George Ella Lyon, Kentucky Poet Laureate 2015–2016 and author of Time to Fly
“It’s impossible to see Ellis Wilson’s work and not fall in love with how he saw the world. Having his own words come to life in this wonderful and important children's book makes me doubly proud to see another part of Kentucky’s rich Black history captured and to hold another bedside favorite I can’t wait to read to my son.”
—Frank X Walker, Kentucky Poet Laureate 2013–2014 and author of A Is For Affrilachia