|
Memory painter Bernice Sims was born in Southern Alabama in 1926, and has lived there all her life. The eldest of ten children, it was not until she had raised her own six children that she decided to finish high school; she earned her high school diploma at age 52. Class field trips to museums reawakened a dormant interest she had developed as a child in painting. She tried her hand again at painting, and discovered a talent for rendering scenes from her youth. Colorful scenes of farm life, church activities, and community gatherings, as well as haunting depictions of civil rights struggles which she participated in, have all become part of her portfolio. Sims typically paints in acrylic on canvas; her work has been widely celebrated and is included in numerous museum and gallery collections. Sims was honored to have one of her paintings, "1965 Selma March", featured on a US Postal Service stamp in 2005; it was part of a series commemorating milestones of the Civil Rights Movement and was included alongside paintings by Romare Bearden, William H. Johnson, and Jacob Lawrence. All of the works shown are painted in acrylic on canvas unless otherwise noted. This page was last updated with new works on May 10, 2010.
|
