Jewell Starday (b. 1938)

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Jewell Starday (aka Betty Jean Washington) was born in Bessemer, Alabama. She dropped her given name when she began to paint. Her childhood was fraught with poverty both in Alabama and New York City. Dropping out of high school, she was forced to endure a very bad marriage. She cleaned houses to support herself and her twelve children, five of which she watched die due to illness or accident. She returned to Alabama in 1993 and worked in the law office of her son Lonnie. She began to doodle on note pads and at the encouragement of a daughter, began to color the images with acrylics and watercolors. Painting became therapy for Jewell and as she created beautiful swirling images of African Kings and Queens, the healing process began. Jewell is included in Kathy Kemp’s book “Revelations: Alabama’s Visionary Folk Artists”

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