[Darius] Well, it was very simple at first. It was me being that black kid from East Cleveland that could go down there to this day, and everybody, you know, I can just fit right in and blend in with the situation. Where I grew up at is so far away from where I am now. You know, so, I get it completely, I feel like I still know everything, but the people there don't look at me the same. So that's why I say it's multiple worlds I live in.
[David] At 3 1/2 square miles the small town of East Cleveland has some big problems; with a 42% poverty rate and violent crime above the national average. Growing up, Darius nearly became a crime stat.
[Darius] It's like living in a war zone sometimes. You know, it's kinda like you didn't know what to expect from day to day. I always tell people I, I was good at looking and learning what not to do, by, you know, by seeing what was happening. So it actually was a good teacher if that makes sense, you know?
[David] Darius' Mom, Rhonda, kept him on the straight and narrow. Early on she recognized his talent, and encouraged him to pursue a career in art realizing that it could be his salvation.
[Darius] My mom didn't really dictate what I was, I should do, you know? So, I think she was just excited that I found something that really, that I could hold onto. And recognizing that I really liked it, she kinda did whatever she could to keep me going with it. And I think it is because it's simple, simple thing is, where I grew up at, people really didn't, you know, have things to kinda hold on to. You know, and it's sad, but it's true. I ask people, what do you like to do? A lot of people can't answer that question. And, you know, that kinda goes with them throughout their lives. If they're doing okay, they end up getting a job where they really don't like it. You know, and they just go through the motions, right? For me it was, I had to follow something that I loved or else I probably wouldn't had did anything.
[David] With degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Art and a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Maryland, today Darius is a high school art teacher, and happily married with two children, and they often become the subject of his realistic watercolors that are instantly recognizable by their white background.
[Darius] My son kinda is in a lot of my imagery. It is a lot at times because it represents things that I've dealt with as a kid growing up, but it's also seeing how his childhood is versus how mine's I think was. Or never was, or you know? The white space kinda talked about the environment that I feel like I was always entrenched in. And it also talked about my stern blackness. So, I feel like amongst the most whiteness is where my blackness really shined. Or where my blackness really stood, the truest it could be; the most honest.
It's this void, it's this part where it shows you that this whiteness is breaking up this child. To show how much that the whiteness plays a part in his life. But also, it talks about this void, you know? The wanting to have something there.
The people from my neighborhood in Page, they completely get it right away. They don't need any art class. They don't need any, you know, background information. They see that boy carrying that Ninja Turtle book bag with that look on his face, and they say, man, I feel like that, you know, plenty of times. You know, and then I can put this into different circumstances, and, some people that may come up to the gallery, may see it for the awesome, lovely watercolor strokes, or the medium, or the choice of paper, or they may have related to historical portraiture. So they bring a whole 'nother set of ways of kinda decoding the image. But, again, that is the one thing that makes everybody at least see where I'm coming from.
That's why I think it's so much power in it. You know, it's this idea that, I can communicate to a multitude of people, by just painting.