Seeking to remedy this lack of parity, the artist traveled the winding roads and tree-lined passages of East Texas for well over a year, observing, sketching, and journaling along the way. The result is an astonishing visual record of contemporary East Texas land, lore, and culture as viewed through the eyes of an accomplished painter. These fine works are further enriched by the artist’s poignant and insightful literary observations, providing backstories and personal accounts for each image. A thoughtful introduction by historian Carolina Castillo Crimm provides the ideal entry into Jamison’s loving treatment of the region’s vistas and stories.
Exhibiting an unshakeable awareness of place and a poet’s sensibility, Lee Jamison’s Ode to East Texas stands as an affectionate hymn to a familiar region, an invitation to a new appreciation of its qualities. Collectors, students, and aficionados of Texas art will be grateful for this fresh examination of a region too long overlooked.
LEE JAMISON, of Huntsville, Texas, has had works exhibited in the Witte Museum in San Antonio, the San Angelo Museum of Fine Art, the Texas State Capitol, and other venues. He is represented by Sarah Foltz Fine Arts of Houston. CAROLINA CASTILLO CRIMM, professor emerita of history at Sam Houston State University, is the author of De León: A Tejano Family History, which won the Presidio La Bahía and San Antonio Conservation Society awards.