When Edwin Ray McSwine met George Hunt in April at the National Civil Rights Museum during the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the two artists expressed admiration for one another.
When Edwin Ray McSwine met George Hunt in April at the National Civil Rights Museum during the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, the two artists expressed admiration for one another.
McSwine, a young, gifted artist, said Hunt, who is nationally renowned, “encouraged me to keep doing what I’m doing and things will break for me.”
With Hunt’s words echoing in his mind, McSwine continued to pursue a career that he’d already made inroads into as an artist with a penchant for drawing and painting.
He recalls a special relationship with Carlisle Johnson, the dean of
“I took art seriously when I met dean Carlisle Johnson,” said McSwine, 33. “But when I was a kid, my mother used to read to me and put books in my hands. I’d look for the illustrations.”
That’s when the interest for drawing first started, said McSwine, who attended the Memphis College of Arts.
He also was interested in basketball and his own assessment is that he was equally adept at shooting hoops. After graduating from
“I had hoop dreams,” he said.
McSwine: I’m always drawing. I started painting in my junior year in high school. I love to render, draw, paint, do assemblage work, mix media and collage. I love working in color. In my work I use musical notes. I pull a lot from old photographs. And I like dealing with the figure and portrait work.
Q: Who inspires you or what is your motivation?
McSwine: I looked at a lot of Romare Bearden, Paul Goodnight, George Hunt and Brenda Joysmith. She gave me a lot of advice.
Q: What do you like about George Hunt?
McSwine: His colors are real powerful. The compositions are intriguing. I use the number 61 a lot in my work. The number 61 pays homage to the musicians that traveled down highway 61.
Q: You are a full time artist. How do you make your living?
McSwine: You have to promote yourself. It’s all about packaging, putting bios and artist’s statements together, and sending literature about yourself to galleries.
Q: Do you do have an art studio to do your work?
McSwine: I live in Midtown, but my art studio is in
Q: Do you have an agent?
McSwine: I’m currently represented by Woodcut Gallery in
Q: What is your choice of media?
McSwine: I work in acrylics, coloring pencils, pretty much whatever I have around the studio ... pretty much the hands-on approach. I like oils and pastels.
Q: What are some of your best work or commissions?
McSwine: I did the Black History poster for the
Q: How do you want the viewer to see your work?
McSwine: I pretty much leave it open to interpretation. I use color to bring people in. I use hidden messages, small details. I want people to acknowledge their history, their past, their African-American culture. You’ll see churches in my work. That’s where black people used to meet and organize ... a meeting place. I pay homage to the church.
Q: You chose art over basketball. Why?
McSwine: Both of them consumed my world. In my free time when my friends were riding their bikes, I was somewhere drawing.
For more information, contact Edwin Ray McSwine at: Edwin Ray McSwine Fine Art,