Larry D. Alexander facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Larry D. Alexander
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| Born |
Larry Dell Alexander
May 30, 1953 Dermott, Arkansas, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Education | Self-taught |
| Known for | Visual artist, author, catechism, evangelist |
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Notable work
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Clinton Family Portrait |
| Movement | Realism |
Larry Dell Alexander, born on May 30, 1953, is an American artist and Christian author from Dermott, Arkansas. He is famous for his detailed and colorful "pen and ink" drawings. He uses a special technique called "crosshatching" or "hatching." He also creates beautiful acrylic paintings.
Larry Alexander's art shows the experiences of African-Americans and other people throughout American history. He became well-known for his "Clinton Family Portrait" oil painting. He gave this painting to U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1995. It is now kept at the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. Larry Alexander is also known for his "Arkansas Schools Tours," which he did from 1996 to 2006. In recent years, he has focused on writing and teaching about Christianity.
Contents
Larry Alexander's Early Life and Art Journey
Larry Alexander was born in Dermott, Arkansas. He was the fourth of ten children. His father was a truck driver, and his mother was a beautician. Larry started drawing when he was about four years old. He never had formal art classes while growing up because there were none in his small hometown.
After finishing Dermott High School in May 1971, Larry moved to Pine Bluff, Arkansas. There, he studied Architectural Residential Design at Pines Vocational Technical School. This school is now called Southeast Arkansas College. Later, he also attended Richland College in Dallas, Texas, where he studied AutoCAD.
Today, six of his artworks from his "Dermott Series" are in the permanent collection at the Arts and Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. This series is about his childhood home. Larry Alexander's art is mostly inspired by his own life experiences. These include growing up in the rural South in the 1950s and 1960s. His time in Detroit, Michigan, during the 1970s and 1980s also influenced his work.
After two years of school in Pine Bluff, Alexander moved to Detroit. He wanted to find a job in his chosen field. However, he ended up working in a Chrysler car factory. He became very interested in how cars work. This led him to become a certified mechanic. He worked as a mechanic for seventeen years. In Detroit, he met and married his wife, Patricia. They later moved their family to Irving, Texas. There, he opened his own auto repair shop and ran it until 1991.
Patricia encouraged him to start using his art talent again after fifteen years. This is when his career as a professional artist truly began. He developed his "pen and ink" style, which he calls "crosshatching." He used this style to create greeting cards for his company, "Alexander Greeting Cards Company." In 1991, he named his first line of cards "The Expressions Line." Between 1991 and 1994, he created over 80 "pen and ink" artworks. These include "Renetta," "Girlfriends," "Cowboy Fiddler," "Young Kennedys," and "Roundup." He also used many of his drawings on his "Fine-arTshirt" T-shirt line in the mid-nineties.
Larry Alexander is also a "realist painter." He uses different art materials like oils, acrylics, and watercolors. He taught himself how to paint. He often shows his art in places where many people can see it. These places include festivals, schools, malls, libraries, banks, art centers, and even U.S. Post Office branches.
The Dermott Series: Art from Childhood
In early 1996, Larry Alexander finished his popular "Dermott Series." This collection has 20 oil and acrylic paintings. They show a nostalgic look back at his childhood in rural southeast Arkansas. The paintings feature people, buildings, and places from Dermott, Arkansas. Some images include a cotton gin, his childhood house, and his old school. Alexander said he created the series for personal reasons. He was very happy with how people in Texas reacted to it. The series includes paintings like "Birthplace," "Where I grew up," "Picking Cotton," "Cotton Gin," "Hot Grits," "In the kitchen with mama," and the old Chicot County High School.
The Detroit Series: Capturing a City
In 1999, Larry Alexander showed his "Detroit Series" for the first time. This series includes oil and acrylic paintings of different places in Detroit, Michigan. He unveiled them at the American Black Artist Institute in Detroit. The series has nine paintings. They show places like Belle Isle Park, the Detroit skyline, the Detroit River, Hitsville USA (the original home for Motown Records), Greektown Historic District, the old Tiger Stadium (Detroit), and the old J.L. Hudson building.
The Delta Series: Exploring the South
In May 1998, Larry Alexander showed his "Delta Series." He painted this series entirely with acrylics. He unveiled it during "the Arkansas Schools Tours." That year, the tour also included stops in Greenville, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee. This series features paintings of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain region. It stretches from Monroe, Louisiana, to Memphis. It includes a painting of Graceland, Elvis Presley's former home. There is also the landmark Greenville Courthouse in Greenville, a view of Beale Street in Memphis, and his classic "Cotton Farm." Another painting from the Delta Series, "Aunt Eira Mae," was given to the permanent collection of the African American Museum (Dallas, Texas) in 2004.
Art for Schools: The P.A.T.R.I.C.E. Series
Larry Alexander has also given his artwork to art departments at schools and colleges. In October 1996, during a football game at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, Alexander presented a piece from his series, "The series of P.A.T.R.I.C.E." He gave it to the presidents and chancellors of Texas Southern University and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
The Sixties Series: Art About a Changing Decade
Larry Alexander's most popular "Pen and Ink" art series is "The Sixties Series." It has been shown in schools, libraries, and art centers since it was finished in 1993. This series has detailed drawings of famous people and events from the 1960s. These include the civil rights Selma to Montgomery marches of 1965. There are also portraits of Martin Luther King Jr., Lyndon Johnson, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, and Rosa Parks. This series also covers the Vietnam War.
The main pieces in this collection are "Composite Sixties" and "Composite Protests." These artworks combine images of people, places, and events that were important in the 1960s. For example, they show John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon, who were U.S. presidents during that time. They also include images of U.S. astronauts landing on the Moon in 1969. Many American protests from this busy decade are also shown.
Writing History: Larry's Book
In 2001, Larry Alexander finished his first book, African-American History at a Glance. This book also included several "pen and ink" drawings of African-Americans. These individuals made important contributions to the American success story. Mr. Alexander believes that "There is a lack of information about African-Americans in the American history lessons in schools all over America." He thinks that while some schools offer it as a choice, it should be a regular part of American history.
Larry Alexander's book helped create an extra textbook. The Irving Independent School District put this together in 2002. It helped improve the American history lessons in high schools in Irving, Texas. His book purposely does not focus on the contributions of African-Americans in sports and entertainment. He feels these areas are already very well known and talked about too much in society. Alexander says in his book that he wants to highlight "some of the African-American contributions that have historically been largely ignored."
Inspiring Kids: The Arkansas School Tours
Larry Alexander and his cousin, Lawrence "Larry" Crockett, both from Dermott, Arkansas, started the first "Arkansas schools tour" in 1996. In May of that year, they visited ten schools in seven cities over four days. Crockett and his son, B.J., traveled with Alexander on the first tour. They were on a break from the Rodgers and Hammerstein Broadway musical Carousel, where B.J. had a role. After the first year, Alexander continued the tour by himself until 2007.
Alexander wanted to give back to his home state of Arkansas. He wanted to help the children living there. Because the first tour in 1996 was so successful, Alexander decided to keep doing it once a year for the next ten years. The main goal was to give hope and encouragement to the children of Arkansas. It also aimed to help them make good choices as they grew up. These yearly visits to high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools also taught and encouraged children. They learned about pursuing their goals and careers in the visual arts and other areas. ..... Alexander usually ended his tour with a two-day art exhibit and print signing at the Dermott, Arkansas Crawfish Festival.
Larry's Christian Faith
Larry Alexander is a devoted Christian. He teaches Sunday school and has also served as a Church deacon. He has taught Sunday school for many years. He also teaches through his books, online "Weekly Sunday School Lesson" commentaries, and his online "Book by Book Bible Study." He also uses his national email system to teach.
Over the years, he has created many artworks with Christian and biblical themes. These include his paintings, "The Twenty-third Psalm Series." These paintings visually show the verses of Psalm 23 from the Holy Bible. Other works include "Memories of St. Paul," which shows his childhood church in Dermott, Arkansas. He also painted "Bible Stories," "The Fall of Man" (showing Adam and Eve after leaving the Garden of Eden), and "Sunday Sermon."
Larry's Family Life
Larry Alexander lives in Texas with his wife, Patricia. They have four children: Ken, Leandra, Kawanna, and Patrice.
Books by Larry Alexander
- Home and Church Bible study commentaries from Paul's letter to the Romans - ISBN: 978-1-105-66048-1
- Home and Church Bible study commentaries from the books of Galatians, Ephesians, & Philippians - ISBN: 978-0-578-15400-8
- Home and Church Bible Study Commentaries from the Book of Ezekiel - ISBN: 978-1-329-94443-5
- Home and Church Bible Study Commentaries from the Book of Acts - ISBN: 978-1-365-01313-3
- Sunday school lessons from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles - ISBN: 978-1-4116-9831-4
- Sunday school lessons from the Gospel according to John Mark - ISBN: 978-0-615-13552-6
- Sunday school lessons from the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans - ISBN: 978-0-615-15342-1
- Home Bible study commentaries from The Gospel of John - ISBN: 978-0-615-20347-8
- Home and Church Bible study commentaries from The Book of Hebrews - ISBN: 978-0-578-03453-9
- Home and Church Bible Study Commentaries from the Apostle Paul's First and Second Letters to the Corinthians - ISBN: 978-0-359-17694-6
- Home and Church Bible Study Commentaries from the Book of Genesis - ISBN: 978-0-359-36349-0
Gallery
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Aunt Ira Mae
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Send in the Clown
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Sleepy Head
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Down by the Sea
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Greenville Courthouse
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Helping Out
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African Mothers
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Moose Call
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Princess of the Blue
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Daughter's Loyalty
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Clinton Family Portrait
