PAINTING DREAMS

A vivid portrait of an African-American artist whose work remains controversial but who demonstrated courage and perseverance in the face of enormous obstacles. Minnie Evans was born in 1892 in North Carolina to a poor family. As a child she was haunted by strange and powerful dreams often based on her strong religious faith. She left school after fifth grade, married Julius Evans at age 15, and had three sons. Still she dreamed, for the next 20 years, until she finally began to draw what she saw in her dreams. Her output steadily grew until she was producing half a dozen or more pictures a day, with no training and only the guidance of ``the angel that stands beside me.'' Interest in the self-taught artist began to spread until her work came to the attention of a photographer/folk art specialist, who took on the job of selling the paintings for much more than the 50 cents Evans was charging. Some fame followed before Minnie Evans died in 1987, having completed the task which she believed God had set before her. Lyons (Letters From a Slave Girl, 1992, etc.) uses Minnie's own words for the few chapters that chart her life, all illustrated with full-color reproductions of the artwork. (afterword, notes, index) (Biography. 8-12)