TONY COCKRELL -ARTIST

Stories in Art

 Stories originally were told in the oral tradition. The telling of a story is, by design, an experience; campfires have largely been replaced by television sets, theaters, books and computer screens. A storyteller breathes life into a tale and sets it free by the act of telling it. When the story is retold by someone else it changes. It changes by the choices of words spoken and by the vocal intonations used. A story is not meant to be owned. 

While stories have long been told as a way to entertain one another; they also have another purpose, stories teach lessons. The artwork enclosed here illustrate stories that were told to me when I taught environmental education. I found that when I conversed with folks, many years later, who had shared these stories with me, they often didn’t remember them, or only partially so. That concerned me, I realized how important it is to keep these stories alive by finding opportunities to tell them and by documenting them in story book form. So, the artwork you see here is part of a project in work and I will continue to add to these.

-Tony Cockrell  2024