portrait of Salvadoran child

No Puedo Decir Lo Peor
20 - 9" X 12" drawings based on Salvadoran refugees' testimony about the civil war.
Done in scratchboard in 1986-7, they were xeroxed to make small books.
Since Myrrh never saw reports in the news about horrendous Salvadoran human rights abuses, she felt it was important to undertake this project.

   
 

Humanitarian Concerns
Since high school, when Myrrh did service work in the inner city in Philadelphia 1951-4,
she has been interested in showing social and political realities in her art.
           
 

portrait of Salvadoran youth

                portrait of Salvadoran elder                  
El Salvador Portraits
By creating 16 portraits of people she met on visits to El Salvador plus sales of T-shirts she designed, Myrrh managed to raise more than $3000 for education and earthquake reconstruction projects.
"Quique," left, "Chambi," below,
and "Don Valentin"are still available. They're 11 X 17" Prismacolor pencil drawings on black paper.
Click to see the rest.

Informal sketches of El Salvador
 
                         
                                       
        Salvadoran directiva                
El Salvador, 1988
Myrrh's first visit to El Salvador, during the civil war, was a revelation: In the midst of chaos and suffering, some dedicated and loving people were creating communities of support. Those she met were in the Christian Base Communities of the Catholic Church. Scripture affirmed for them God's compassion for those who were poor like themselves, which gave them heart. The govenment felt this was a threat and murdered many priests.

   

Left: We Govern Ourselves, acrylic on raw plywood, based on the 1988 trip to a refugee camp of 10.000 on the Honduran border. Those who fled to refugee camps were taught accounting, reading, and self-governing skills. This helped post-war reconstruction.
    This is part of a series of paintings called The Resilient Spirit.

3 pgs fr. book about civil war  
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2005: 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights movement. In 1965, under the name G. Reagan, Myrrh did this poster on a 19 X 26 inch slab of scratchboard to raise money for a black academy, Nairobi Day School, in East Palo Alto.         2005: 60th anniversary of Hiroshima. Myrrh was 9 when the first bomb was dropped.
An example of Myrrh's pieces on nuclear war:
Don't Wait to Co-
operate,
day-glo orange and black paint on masonite, 48 inches square.
    TODAY: Afghanistan and the Middle East. Myrrh drew Where is Your Help on 11 X 14" scratchboard in 2003 to remind people to care for those in the countries we took over. She hopes to promote compassion instead of hatred.        
drawing about civil rights   painting about nuclear war   Afghan woman and child  
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