Salutations and Quotations

Looking Forward To Networking With Other Art Enthusiasts And History Buffs Everywhere!

"The truth of our history must be preserved and passed on to the children. Some of these truths are harsh and cruel...but they reflect our strength and endurance as a people. The bad must be told with the good...the tribulations must be told with the triumphs. For together they make up the fabric of who we are...They act as sounding boards as to how far we have come as a people...and as to how much progress we have truthfully made." Carl G. Brown

Visit the Website: www.cbrownartprints.com

Sunday, June 26, 2011

"I HAVE" (A Spiritual Poem) by Carl G. Brown

I have stories to tell about things in my life that really happened
About things that taught me what to do
I have a testimony to give...poetic words of instruction
Comes from the scars and pain of learning the hard way what not to do


I have walked down many of life’s dead-end streets for I am a sinner
I have survived some dismal scenes and schemes...only by the grace of GOD do I still live
I have to remember the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus suffered for all of us
And have the courage to make a sacrifice whenever it’s my turn to give


I have to keep my feet planted firmly on the ground
My mind must never float off into the moon...the stars...the sun
I have to keep my thinking unclouded by evil and steadfast on Christ
Or no one will believe or understand where these spiritual messages are coming from


I have real words of truth from my real life experiences
Fiction may be cool for some…but how full does something unreal fill a cup?
I have to truly believe that I can lose no spiritual battles
If I keep serving The Lord by standing firm in my Faith and never giving up


I have to tell the GOD sent truth because there is no victory in lies
I will have nothing to regret if my heart remains obedient to GOD and true
I will continue to worship The Lord in good times and in bad times
I will continue to give Jesus Christ the credit for every righteous thing that I do

Saturday, June 18, 2011

"Three Versus Three" a poem by Carl G. Brown 03/16/2006


The Devil, the World and the Flesh
The three diabolical enemies of man
Most invincible in their combined attacks
The axis powers of a satanic plan 

The Devil…the arch angle of Almighty GOD
The World…so saturated with sin
The Flesh…which makes us weak and mortal
How can we humans ever win?

Win this fight between good versus evil?
Win this battle between heaven and hell?
Win this conflict between the blessed and the damned?
In our mortal weakness we will most certainly fail

The demonic three are most powerful
All alone we stand not a chance
It is their mission to destroy our hopes for Eternal Life
For it is everlasting death they romance

The total destruction of all that is pure and good
The annihilation of GOD’s Kingdom itself
Through temptation, sin and faithlessness
They will not relent until only evil is left

Many men and women will turn away from God
Surrendering to evil in cowardly submission
They will refuse to have faith in the only solution
That can resolve this very grave spiritual condition

In their doubt and spiritual weakness
They will neglect to wear the full armor
Their souls will become the helpless prisoners
Of the World, the Flesh and the "Crafty Charmer"

They will succumb unto a dark eternity
Of torture within the flames of Hell’s fire
Becoming the slaves and beaten captives
Of the Murderer, the Thief and the Liar

But, the few that are saved by the Blood of Christ
Those obedient and faithful few
The valiant soldiers of GOD’s hallowed army
We understand what the evil trio will do

Many a disbeliever will say the words
Yes...many will smoothly talk the talk
But in this war to end all wars
We must cease talking and walk the walk

We must be students and well trained soldiers
In this engagement against the ruthless three
We must call upon a Three of our own
We need The Holy Trinity

Through the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit
Through prayer, meditation and good works
Through learning the Word of GOD and passing it on
We shall inherit a peaceful Earth

The Father…our omnipotent Creator
The Son…who perished and then arose
To wash us clean of our sins and offer Eternal Life
The Holy Spirit… to fill our souls

There is no weapon formed of polluted evil
Neither the Devil, the World or the Flesh
That can hurt or destroy a true child of GOD
For we are protected in our faithfulness

We proclaim Jesus Christ to be our Savior
That He is the only begotten Son of GOD
That He shed His Blood to guarantee our lives
And resurrected for our greater regard

If you should worship GOD, the Father
If you truly believe that Jesus Christ is the Son
If you be filled with the Holy Spirit
 Your personal battles with evil will then be won

As it is written...Your battles will be won
With the Holy Trinity by your side
The Grace of the Father…the Sacrifice of the Son
The Holy Spirit as your guide

Without the awesome powers of our GOD
Humankind could never be free
From the Devil, the World and the Flesh
Our most diabolical and deadly enemies

Friday, June 17, 2011

Thursday, June 16, 2011

"GOD" a poem by Carl G. Brown 02/21/2008

GOD...is in the crack houses
With crack smoke thick in the air
Touching an addicted soul
To pull them out of there

GOD... is in the street gangs
With the menaces of society
Touching a wayward soul
To turn a life back to legitimacy

GOD... is in the prisons and jails
With the killers, drug dealers and thieves
Touching a convicted soul
To give them His true reprieve

GOD... is on the battlefields
With the machine gun fire and bursting shells
Providing strength and courage
To the troopers trapped in a living hell

GOD... is under the bridges
Where the homeless lay to rest
Touching a penniless soul
Giving them a new will to be their best

GOD... is in the abusive homes
Where battered wives and children are not secure
To protect an innocent soul
From the torture that they endure

GOD... is in the schools
Where the young ones go to learn
Giving them the wisdom
To pass on the knowledge when comes their turn

GOD... is in the ghettos
Where there is not a dime to spend
Giving the poor a spiritual richness
That will never come to end

GOD... is with the single parents
Who are raising their kids alone
Giving His helping hand
To teach the children right from wrong

GOD... is in the hospitals
Where the sick and the dying lay
To heal them from their illness
Or to comfort them along their way

One thing you must know of GOD
He never ceases to care
And God is always by your side
For GOD...is everywhere



"Life In The Hood" a poem by Carl G. Brown 03/10/1999

Tear stained traces
On solemn faces
From desperate places
On the block
Thugs and G's
Kneeling on one knee
Dice four...dice three
With them pistols cocked

On street corners they hang
Sellin' that thang
Or those pimps will bang
Up on them heads
It's understood
That in the ghetto hood
Their hustle best be good
Or they might be dead

In tiny plastic sacks
Small rocks called 'Crack'
They step way in the back
To take a blast
Dope fiend not sure
If the dope is pure
Might be his cure
Might be his last

Bills must be paid
But they're earning minimum wage
So they live in rage
And resort to crime
As blue lights flash
A father stole that cash
Then he made that dash
But now he's making time

The cement floors
The iron doors
The mosquito sores
On tiny legs
With bellies tight
They will not eat tonight
Perhaps they might
Get out and beg

While jobs decline
The unemployment line
Is doing real fine
And growing stronger
Feels like they've flunked
So they get high...they get drunk
Their faith has sunk
Don't care no longer

The sirens blare
The fires flare
But no one cares
When they come 'round
The can't relate
They won't debate
The ghetto's fate
Won't make a sound

There is no grass
Just broken glass
And painful pasts
Misunderstood
A gun acquired
A shot is fired
Young man dead and expired
Life in the 'Hood"



"The Game Of Life" a poem by Carl G. Brown 07/14/2005

Sometimes in life
We take spills...we take falls
 The valiant get back up to their feet
They dust off...and they stand up tall

They grab that bull called " Living"
Back by the horns
And they ride that unpredictable beast
Until its tired...until its worn

You see...it's alright to give
But never Give Up
For up ahead
May lie your Golden Cup

Keep moving straight forward
Do not look back
Because reality is tight
There is no room for the slack

The strong will win
The weak will lose
The road that  you travel
Will be the road that you choose

Whether you choose the bottom
Or whether you choose the top
Time will not wait
The grind will never stop

This is a very cruel world
But we are stuck here in  it
So...if we are playing this game called "Life"
We might as well walk with Christ...and win it

     

Thursday, June 9, 2011

"The Right Call" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

This piece was inspired by my admiration of the accomplishments and hard work of my friend ,of almost 40 years, NBA Referee Derrick Stafford.

Monday, June 6, 2011

"Hannibal's Journey" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"Moses Parts The Sea" (Exodus 14:21) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

Exodus 14:21

King James Version (KJV)

21And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

"The Furnace" (Daniel 3:25) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

Daniel 3:25

King James Version (KJV)

25He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

"Sax Man" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"Gypsy Woman" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"Bluesman" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"Morroccan Drummer" (Morrocco, North Africa) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"Noah's Ark" (Genesis 7:7-9) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas


Genesis 7:7-9

King James Version (KJV)

7And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

"Tribal Guardians" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"Marbles" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"The Creation Of Woman" (Genesis 2:21-22) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas


Genesis 2:21-22

King James Version (KJV)

21And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.


"Junior's Barber Shop" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

Friday, June 3, 2011

Immigration...The American Paradox by Carl Brown

Many Mexican and El Salvadoran people have come here and discovered that the "American Dream" can become a nightmare when America is rubbed the wrong way. As a black man, born in the 1950's,  I have also experienced the uglier side of America. African-Americans are the only race of people in the United States whose ancestors did not immigrate here of their own free wills. However, the majority of people who make up America all have an ancestral history rooted in voluntary immigration. Every person of Irish, Italian, German, Greek, Asian, and Russian decent have relatives who came here in search of a better life. America has always been touted as "The Melting Pot". Even the indigenous American Indians' ancestors migrated here from Siberia through the Barren Straits. No one here is originally from here no matter how they got here or how long they have been here. As a matter of fact, the Mexicans were here, out West, before the West was even America. Now, many of them, have created a socio-economic problem for America and they must bare their share of the blame and help correct this growing concern.

Here is the paradox. Although one of America's founding principals was based on immigration. We cannot leave out the adjective "LEGAL" immigration. When someone comes here illegally their first act here is a criminal one. Unfortunately, common sense dictates that if  someone was willing to commit one illegal act, for whatever reason, they would most likely be willing to commit more illegal acts. Most immigrants, legal or illegal, come here to better their economic situation. This means that when they get here they will, most likely, need to take advantage of social assistance such as food stamps, public housing and indigent medical care. Legal immigration does not place a great strain on the funds in the state and federal coffers targeted for these programs because more people are paying into the programs and the states are aware of the population increases and can justify increases in the financial budgets supporting these programs. This next point goes back to the notion that if  one crime can be committed so can another. Many illegal immigrants also possess illegal identification and documents that allows them access to public assistance causing an imbalance in the inflow and outflow of the funds intended for the citizens and legal aliens in need of the help. Funding will always be inadequate as long as so many unaccounted people are taking out. The huge overflow of people abusing or misusing these programs through illegal means has made it extremely difficult for the legitimate families (many single parented and low income) that need these social services and may at some point have helped pay into them. The strain on these programs, due to more resources going out than coming in , is in part, the cause and effect of  an increase in fraudulent enrollment by unaccounted people using counterfeited or illegally obtained documents.

Legal immigration allows for monitoring in an effort to prevent criminal fugitives from fleeing justice into America or allowing known criminal elements from taking up residence.  Legal immigration allows monitoring in an effort to prevent communicable diseases, long wiped out from the American population, from becoming a national threat again. Legal immigration allows a person to become a law abiding participant in the social taxation structure of this country and not someone who has come here to drain it's resources without giving back.

The Mexican and El Salvadoran immigrants are vital to our agricultural and construction industries and we can ill afford to lose them. To banish them from this country would be to banish ourselves. Several American businesses depend on their skills and wills to work. Not too many Americans pick anything but their noses and toes. Who do you think picks our delicate crops that a machine would ruin?

My only objection is that too many of our friends south of the border take the illegal way out. I cannot justify or condone any illegal act to reach a means, no matter how good intentioned, when there is a legal recourse available. I would not have approved of the Civil Rights Movement if it was founded on illegal and violent principals. That is why it was not. It was done by the rules set forth for all people in this country. It was not easy but it opened the door for national support for a good and just cause. So must our Hispanic brothers and sisters address this issue of immigration...by the rules. Supporting illegal immigration would be like supporting the riots in the 60's that decimated many black communities. It was wrong and in the long run worse for the people who were doing it. Illegal  immigration opens a legitimate platform for the bigots and racists to spout their hatred to people who under normal circumstances would not listen. You cannot do something wrong and make it seem right. If you try to do that...if you fight to support breaking the law and cheating... you will look like a hypocrite. One great American principal is..."Play by the rules!" That will never change. It is not a good idea to enter this country by breaking the rules and expect the law abiding citizens to accept it or put up with it.

In closing, I think most Americans, no matter their ethnic origin, feel as I do and that is not to discourage or block people from coming here to find a better life, as millions have before them, but to discourage those 
people who choose to come from entering into America illegally. 

"Adam" & "Eve" (Genesis 2:23-25) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas



Genesis 2:23-25

King James Version (KJV)

23And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

"Casting Out Demons" (Matthew 8:28-32) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas


Matthew 8:28-34

King James Version (KJV

28And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.

29And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

30And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.

31So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.

32And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. 

"The Creation Of Man" (Genesis 2:7) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas


Genesis 2:7

King James Version (KJV)

7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.



"JAH Love" (Psalm 68:4) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Canvas



Psalm 68:4

King James Bible
Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.







Thursday, June 2, 2011

"Panthera Onca" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"The Jazz Singer" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"Moses And The Burning Bush" (Exodus 3:2-6) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas




Exodus 3:2-6

New International Version (NIV)


2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4 When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6 Then he said, “I am the God of your father,[a] the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

"Peace...Be Still" (Mark 4:39) by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

Mark 4:39

King James Version (KJV)


39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.


"Drummers Of Papua New Guinea" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"Cry Freedom" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas

"The Sermon" by Carl Brown

Medium: Brushed Acrylic on 16x20 Stretched Canvas