Hampton / Virginia / United States
After a 39 year hiatus, ...this self taught artist only recently resurrected his innate ability to create his own brand of art. In the course of the revival Everna believes that the absence of formal training actually worked in his favor. he is void of any inhibitions thus allowing him complete freedom of expression without being shackled to any one style or medium. Actually, Everna has vigorously avoided labels and never considered himself an artist in the traditional sense. He prefers to be thought of as a "pictorial story teller." The depth and intensity of the stories in his works are limited only by the interpretation of the viewer. As a youth, Everna remembers his earliest influence in art was his mother. Her central interest was music, but she would occasionally sketch for her own amusement. Inspired by her drawings, he was always happy to show her his artistic progress, but she doggedly directed him to the piano. Everna quickly discovered that using a pencil was a lot more comfortable than trying to master those black and white keys. Living in Cleveland, Everna paid occasional visits to "Caramel House", an organization dedicated to broadening the horizons of the local youth. There structured activities for the kids included brief overviews of different forms of art. Because of his comfort with the pencil, Everna gravitated to the drawing activities and learned about shading objects. He saw that shading could alter depth and dimension of a picture and soon began to incorporate the procedure into his own drawings, a technique he continues to use today. After moving to Detroit by age 10, Everna attended a school requesting his participation in a number of art projects that were ultimately used as large seasonal displays in Detroits downtown department stores. Encouraged by the experience, Everna entered a widely advertised "Draw Me" contest and as a result received periodic solicitations to attend Art Instruction School. Being keenly aware of the familys impoverished condition, he declined the offer. The offers to attend continued well after he enlisted in the Navy at age 18. Having explored other interests, Evernas time for art was seldom available. Now in his latter years, this retired seafarer stays quite busy creating medium pieces covering a myriad of subjects. He particularly likes to explore ideas surrounding the dynamics of the slave trade era and the effects on todays society. In his series "Welcome to America", he has produced a number of pieces depicting his graphic impressions of what may have occurred and the cxulture shock the Africans undoubtedly experienced.
