“The music of your vision and purpose came early, composing your destiny while you were still a boy. Laughing at how sweetly the muse kissed your dreams.” --from the poem Gullah-Gospel Griot Allen Fireall What would you call it if you heard about an artist who had been declared legally blind and whose heart had lost the greater percentage of its strength but whom somehow continued to produce masterful paintings in brilliantly-colored detail? The word miracle may not be too extreme at all and it certainly should not be ruled out in the case of Gullah artist Allen Franklin Fireall , who passed away in Savannah, Georgia, on March 31, 2014. Fireall described himself as an “artist historian” who dedicated his talents to preserving the culture and history of his people. In that sense, his work might be described as historical realism. The images he produced support that assessment in bold hues depicting scenes from African-American island and rural life in the Southeast. P

"You were born a child of light's wonderful secret-- you return to the beauty you have always been." Quotation from the poem Holiday Letter for a Poet Gone to War from the book VISIONS OF A SKYLARK DRESSED IN BLACK by Aberjhani. One of the greater joys of my endeavors as an author and poet has been an occasional opportunity to compose poems, essays, and articles to supplement the vibrant works of visual artists with my own literary constructions. That was the case in 2011 when providing panel text for paintings featured in the extremely gifted artist Michele Wood’s I See the Rhythm of Gospel exhibition. Previously, I had been blessed with a similar honor when composing ekphrastic poems for the art of Luther E. Vann in ELEMENTAL The Power of Illuminated Love . And I’ve written any number of essays reviewing the works or chronicling the lives of other contemporary artists such as Allen Fireall (who currently, heartbreakingly, is challenged by the need for a hear