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The 7 visual elements

Shape: for shape there is 2 human significance to there personal make up one being her German and the other being the hear being the mental division of them self, the half's make up of the heart showing division of there personal idea of being German and Mexican

Form:

The form given is body and heart 2 people that make up one person in total, her divided mixture of there genes being half and half. With one side being cut and not wanting that blood line and the other being protected forms a want in the painting

Space/value

Here space and value have similar connections the value of the background being dark clouds and shadows almost like a inner mind setting, personally I think it’s her mind her self being seen in her mind as she thinks of herself, the space factor is basically the empty almost weird space but space is making you focus on the true painting and her mindset being divided in her imagination or mental SPACE

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“Untitled (Ross the Undertaker)”

In this picture, we get a man, who I presume is an African American, dressed in a suit, with a print shirt underneath, and is carrying a bag. The undertaker is beaming with confidence as his head is held up high, which could represent the new freedom and opportunities being dawned on African American that was denied to Traylor in his upbringing.

“Exciting event with snake, plow, figures chasing rabbit”

Traylor was a slave until the age of 12, so he knew what it was like to endure and survive in such a time. From Traylor's point of view, we witness the history of slaves attempting to flee their cruel life unfold in this image. The mule is thought to represent endurance and survival, while the rabbit is said to represent escape.

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It is mentioned that Traylor was basically hopeless by his late seventies in which he relied on black business owners in town. Therefore, living in this urban area enabled him to get a full public view of life, essentially, the new culture that was thriving which let him view his past and the present which is drawn out in his drawings. Him experiencing events of this transition from a personal lens, lets his drawings to be true and reliable sources.

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Religious Beliefs and Traylor’s Layering

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Religious Beliefs and Traylor’s Layering

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African Americans were limited several freedoms and rights, such as expressing religious beliefs and ideals. Despite this, many found ways to retain religious practices and intertwine things like spiritual possession and herbal healing methods with Christianity for slaveowners to accept their practices.

With this, many conclude that Traylor used the same practices of layering through his artwork, to convey deeper meanings within his pieces without explicitly showcasing the side he wanted in order to not be silenced.

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Traylor was a married man who raised a family and worked in the fields for years during a time of strong social dislike for African Americans (all while living in deep south Alabama). Traylor didn't paint about only things that were happening around him, but specifically painted about events that have happened to him. Things that he experienced first hand. He painted about the impact that this had on him. The ratification of the thirteenth amendment had a huge impact on his life. It started a time in his life when there was a change in society and laws. White people created local laws that crippled black people's contribution to society and overall dismissed them by joining white supremacy groups. Along with this came many local and social systems intentionally created meant to oppress African Americans. It isn't ideal to stay in an area that expresses their dislike for you and your kind, but Traylor and his family stayed in the south (Alabama) because black farmers were in debt to their white owners so familial and social networking was their only choice of survival. Many African Americans who don't want to move north settled in nearby cities where they were able to form their own communities. Montgomery, Alabama being one of these cities and Traylor stayed there as that was his home and culture.

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- Guns were often used in nighttime hunts for possums or other animals. Guns can be seen to represent survival because often that would be a source of food.
- These hunts were mixed with so many different behaviors of having fun, quarreling, aggressiveness, and drunkenness.
- Although they had theri fun they were also god fearing as well as very hard workers.
-The gun symbolizes survival, oppression, and power.

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In this painting by Frida Kahlo, the visual element of color is very significant. We see a women clothed in all white and red little flowers on the bottom of her dress demonstrating a part of the German culture. The other women is clothed in a blue/gold shirt, with a green/white skirt demonstrating a part of the Mexican culture.

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Around the late 1930's, Traylor moves onto the streets of Montgomery. He begins creating art during his days on the streets. He works on pieces of cardboard that he finds around. His move onto the streets influences his art because he sees things around, and is inspired to fill his days creating art of his memories, people and places he sees, and problems with society that he sees.

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-Great Migration occurred during the 1920s when 6 million African Americans moved from the South to the North to improve their economic status and escape the ongoing violence. The majority of Traylor’s children participated in the Great Migration.

-The reason Traylor’s and other African Americans stayed in the South was due to Sharecropping. Also, they wanted to stay in the same culture but for the most part, African Americans relocated to black-run cities in the South such as Montgomery to maintain their connections.

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The structures he used represented the suffering and negative aspects of the African-American experience. For example, Montgomery Court Square, which used to be a major slave market

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To keep himself safe, Traylor needed to communicate the meanings of his artwork through code. he understood that white and black people would view his artwork differently, so he used symbolism to convey deeper storylines.

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Societal Transitions during Traylor's Life

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Societal Transitions during Traylor's Life

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Traylor was in his middle age at the turn of the 19th century. People of this era was saw the most significant societal changes in American history, especially African Americans. The 13th amendment, ratified when Traylor was 12 years old, freed African Americans from slavery. Racist southern culture fought the equality of black people and Traylor lived his live right at the heart of it in Montgomery Alabama.

A subsequent transition caused by the freeing of black Americans from slavery was the Great Migration. Former slaves and their families, eager to escape oppression by white southerners, migrated north and brought with them their culture. While Traylor himself was not a part of this, many of his sons and daughters left their hometown of Montgomery to live better lives in the north.

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Bill Traylor was born into slavery and experienced strenuous labor in his formative years.

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When Bill Traylor was twelve, slavery was abolished; however, it was soon replaced by prohibitive and oppressive Jim Crow laws. This represented a drastic change in Traylor's life.

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In this painting the lines have a big significance. We see the bloodline connecting the 2 Fridas, but the line is cut off on her German side, showing us her disdain for her German culture. However, her Mexican side is a whole heart and the veins are intact and she has a full heart. The lines in the detail of the 2 Fridas have meaning. The German side has an ornate pattern that is very detailed and frail. The Mexican Frida has a vibrant but simple pattern of lines.

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In 1868, Congress passes the Fourteenth Amendment, guaranteeing citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” including those who had been enslaved causing Traylor's work to take a less of a melancholy turn.

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Allegorical Lens Throughout Traylor's Work

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Allegorical Lens Throughout Traylor's Work

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All of Traylor's paintings are representative of his past as well as his culture. They hold layers of symbolism to tell the story of his suffering.

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In 1927-28, Traylor moves to urban Montgomery, after spending his entire life on rural plantations. Montgomery is segregated and cases of racism and racist attacks are rampant. In 1929, Traylor's son Will is killed by police after he allegedly broke into a house. This influenced Traylor's works because he saw the segregation in an urban environment firsthand, and grief can cause great inspiration for art.

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Nervous about enslaved workers thinking they were freed by the Proclamation, white planters tighten their operations. Bill Traylor’s family is relocated by their owners to another plantation in Lowndes County, Alabama, for closer supervision. This influenced his work because it causes Traylor to do his work  faster and more discretely.

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Traylor represents the perspective of African Americans compared to white people regarding common locations. Many of Traylor's artworks depict the negative memories he associates with certain buildings and structures.

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O- The picture is of a man on a horse, colored in red, alongside a red dog. The man is riding the horse or patroling around with the dog.
P-  The man is above all of the other creatures. The horse is blue and separate from the other red images.
T - The title of the piece is not much help because it is a discription of the art and not anything insightful.
I - The color red in the picture relates directly to power and control as the man holds power over the horse and dog. The dog holds the power to hurt anyone the owner says or even chase them away.
C - Overall, the picture is trying to depict the ratio of power that differently colored people have. They can own horeses and even trail around a dog that follows their every order.

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In 1865, the congress passed the thirteenth amendment. It abolished slavery in every state and territory in the United States. Bill Traylor is freed at age 12 and for about 45 years, he and his family remained in Rural Alabama as laborers. This influenced Traylor ́s work by giving him a sense of freedom that he never had before.

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Stains, Figures, and Hats. By: Elizabeth E

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Stains, Figures, and Hats. By: Elizabeth E

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Stains:
- Traylor learned through the Great Depression how to make do with what he had
- He often used stained cardboard and sometimes incorporated it into his work

Figures:
- Traylor blurred many lines between the hunted and the hunter
- There are historic accounts of enslaved people being hunted by hounds of white men

Hats:
- The hats were a very common thing to protect the men from the hot sun of Alabama
- However, Traylor often used the hats to symbolize who was in power and who was vulnerable

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Traylor's birth into slavery in 1853 influenced his works because it defined who he was as a person, and restricted him the rest of his life due to hard labor and lack of education.

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Bill Traylor was born into slavery with no actual records of his birth.

At 12 years old Traylor was freed and continued working in Dallas, Alabama.

After living in Dallas for 55 years, Traylor moved to rural Montgomery, Alabama.

After his wife died and his children were grown up Traylor moved into the city of Montgomery.

As Traylor got older he became unable to provide for himself and had to rely on the help of store owners to take care of him.

Traylor liked to do his art on cardboard or old paper. He started off using pencils and then moved to paint.

In the last years of his life Traylor traveled to visit friends and family while he could and then settled with is daughter.

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O: Overview

In this element you are summarizing what you are seeing. In this part you are not analyzing anything yet.

P: Parts

This breaks down what you are seeing and you should take notes on what seems important.

T: Title

If the image has a title you should dig into the title and look into what you can draw from the image to relate it to the title and to find a deeper meaning. “What does the title tell you about the picture?”

I: Interrelationships

Use the words in the title and description and correlate the words and the image together and determine connections.

C: Conclusions

Based on the rest of OPTIC gather information and develop a conclusion about the image.

For extra help click on the optic link

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jared

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elizabteh

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trees: trees are used in conjunction with the narrative of hunting slaves but it is looked at through a new lens after Billie holidays "strange fruit" witch leaves the usage of trees with another interpretation.

dogs: dogs were typically used in slave times to hunt the scent of slaves, or as a symbol of intimidation and power. the displays of dogs in Bill's art are fear-inducing creatures with gaping maws and sharp teeth, reflecting on the fear African Americans faced.

birds: bill Traylor used an extensive range of birds in his paintings to depict many different things. birds such as crows and owls were used as omens of bad fortune or death. on the other hand, songbirds such as robins depicted the ascension to heaven or peace.

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Directions: Read the article about the Symbolism Lens and gather important points from it. Make several additional posts to explain key points. Relate the Symbolism lens to Traylor analysis.

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Read the article about the Allegorical Lens and gather important points from it. Make several additional posts to explain key points. Relate the Allegorical lens to Traylor analysis.

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Read the article about the Transitional Lens and gather important points from it. Make several additional posts to explain key points. Relate the Transitional lens to Traylor analysis.

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Using what you know about OPTIC, pull a painting off the Internet and analyze for the class. During this lesson, be sure to define the parts of OPTIC for the class.

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Review the timeline and discuss how each historical event might influence the artwork of Traylor.

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Using the  7 visual elements, find a painting online and analyze for the class. During your analysis, be sure to teach the elements.

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Read the article about the Personal Lens and gather important points from it. Make several additional posts to explain key points. Relate the personal lens to Traylor analysis.