As You Remember It: The Lift-Off of APOLLO 11

The launch of Apollo 11 to the moon on July 16, 1969, marked the beginning of the Space Age.

Christmas Cards Sale!

For Christmas 2011, I am pleased to announce new Christmas greeting cards, one of which, is illustrated here. I'm also offering these cards at a 15% discount. Please go to:http://walter-neal.artistwebsites.com/art/all/christmas/all , to check them out. You'll find them in my 'Christmas' gallery. This sale also includes all of my other print designs as well, and will run through the end of this year, 2011. I'm looking forward to your patronage. Thank you.

"Love Your Sons, Raise Your Daughters"

This expresses Elijah Anderson's (author of 'Streetwise: Race, Class and Change in an Urban Community (1990)), where he explores the dynamics of social interaction between police as agents and symbols of mainstream communal efforts to regulate the behavior and social place of black men, and black men in a local community. This give rise to a familiar saying in many black comunities, where black women "love their sons and raise their daughters." According to Michael Eric Dyson, this is a "flawed, attempt to get beyond a theoretical framework that implicitly blames black women for the condition of black men"; whereas James Baldwin, in his last published work, declared it "a disease peculiar to the black community called 'sorriness', where 'Mama," he writes, 'lays this burden on Sister from whom she expects (or indicates she expects) far more than she expects from Brother (who) may never grow up..."

The Black Pieta

This is inspired by "The Pieta" (1499), a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture by the renowned artist Michelangelo Buonarroti, housed in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Where Michelango portrayed a youthful Madonna to symbolize her incorruptible purity, I sought to portray a black mother's painful and fearful dilemma ('Sorriness') on how to enable her black son to flourish as a man, and at the same time, ensure his safety and survival in America.

The Meaning of A Friend

The Meaning of A Friend

Someone turned to me and asked
"How many friends have you?
"Why 10 or 20 friends I believe
And began to named a few...
A blessed one you are
To have so many friends
But think of what you're saying...
A friend is just not someone
To whom you say "Hello"
A friend is a tender shoulder
On which to softly cry
A well to pour your troubles down
And raise your spirits high
A friend is a hand to pull you up
From darkness and despair...
When all your other "so called" friends
Have helped to put you there
A true friend is an ally
Who can't be moved or bought
A voice to keep your name alive
When others have forgot
But most of all a friend has a true heart
For from the hearts of friends
There comes the greatest love of all!
So think about all this
For every word is true
And once again answer please...
How many friends have you?
After much thought I answered
I really only have just one: "It's You!"
A Friend Is Always Special
Because Friends Love You
Just Because You're You!

-Author Unknown

The Sports Bar

It's Friday, after work, and patrons attend their favorite watering hole to quench their thirst, fraternize, talk sports, and relieve the stress and tensions of the work week. See this work in detail at my website.

Calypso

Here, the Greek goddess Calypso, described in Homer's Odyssey 2,800 years ago, sits on her coral throne, awaiting the return of her lover, Odysseus. Calypso, who lived on Ogygia, an island near Malta, was unmarried, independent, and history's first documented feminist. See more detail at: Walter O. Neal@Fine Arts America

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

New Featured Work: "Planetary Alignment"

The probability of a planetary alignment occurring, as seen in the illustration, is once in 8.6 x 1046 years, or once in 86 billion-trillion-trillion-trillion years! Since the solar system is only 4.6 x 109 (4.6 billion) years old, and will only be in existence for a grand total of 1010 (10 billion) years, the odds that an out-of-this-world size, gray coloured Being 'forcing' an alignment is more strongly favored than an exact planetary alignment occurring on its own. This should pretty much put to rest all those fears surrounding the Mayan calendar predictions come 2012!

An American Time Line

A time line of black history stretching from 1441 c.e. to the present. In this video, I try to convey, through iconic photos, images, and sound, African American's audacity to have hope; a determination that is implicit in their perpetual struggle to overcome the overwhelming resistance that stands in their way in pursuit and achievement of the American Dream, as expressed in the spirit of Maya Angelou's poem, "Still I Rise", below:

"You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise." --Maya Angelou