2008 Student Essays - Eastern Region Winner

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Carl Owens
by Matthew James Mason
Frank W. Cox High School
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Carl Owens, an extremely influential African-American painter in the 1900s, was a master of his art and an inspiration to a generation.  He began his rise to greatness from the bottom, perfecting his works at highly competitive art shows and eventually rising to become a world-renowned freelance portraitist.

His artistic technique was astounding.  His works were stirring to the soul, catalysts for thought and emotion.  Viewing his paintings of farm life, it is almost as if you feel the calloused palms of the day laborers or the softness of the children’s faces with their warm skin tones through the canvas.  Occasionally, one may even glimpse the stains of abuse and poverty endured by the subjects in his paintings.  The images resonate in the soul.

Today Owens is remembered as a brilliant portraitist, but he was not painting people; he was painting humanity.  He captured the love, perseverance, and sustained scars of human touch.  He showed it through his art with a human expression borne of adversity.

And Carl Owens was no stranger to adversity.  He knew the trials and tribulations of racism and the difficulties of surviving on the budget of a young artist, yet he was successful.  Owens did not dwell on the difficulties that he encountered.  He allowed each harsh blow endured to chip away his weaknesses.  Others watched as the chisel strikes of adversity sculpted, not destroyed, his form.  And from the shaping, Carl Owens became truly strong.

Owens is known as great not solely because of his art, but because of his actions.  In his wake, he left a trail of caring.  He fostered the artistic growth of two sons into beautiful amalgamations of artistic expression and world conscientiousness, and within everyone in which he came into contact, he fostered a warmth and love.

I never met Mr. Owens in person, but I like to think that he has reached out and guided my hands through his paintings, encouraged me when I felt dispirited, and given me new perspectives as I paint.  His legacy has sculpted my vision.  Now, every time I pick up my brushes I find inspiration and, like Carl Owens, I refuse to allow challenges to inhibit me on my journey.

Carl Owens, artistic great and loving human, passed away in 2002, but I swear, his art will live forever in those who have viewed it.

Forever in me.