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JOHNNIE SWEARINGEN (Am. 1908-1993)
Swearingen was born into the community of Campground Church, near Chappell Hill, Texas. His parents were migrant farmer laborers; he attended school periodically and church regularly. As a young man, Swearingen traveled through the West on freight trains, and supported himself by chopping cotton, picking grapes and doing constructions and railroad work.
In 1948, after working as a longshoreman in San Pedro, California, Sewingen returned after fifteen years to Chappell Hill to care for his father. He settled in Brenham, Texas, and resumed farming. In 1961, while working in the fields, Sweringen heard God command him to preach the Gospel. Sweringen began his painting at about the age of twelve, often on the walls of his house.
After his return to Chappell Hill in 1948, he devoted more time to his art. Swearingen used whatever materials were readily available that would adhere to cardboard. Influenced by the Bible and the rural culture of Texas, he painted religious and rural scenes, often featuring children and animals. In his later years, Swearingen painted large canvases in brilliant oil paints.
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