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Cover ArtworkMary Greer Mudiku is best known in the Washington, D.C. and East Coast area for her verydetailed pen and ink drawings, done in a stippling technique which readily identifies her style.She is an accomplished painter, poet and aspiring entrepreneur who has started her owncompany, “The Season of Rebirth”, a conduit for her Afrocentric artifacts.The pointillist-painter was born in Greenville, Mississippi, reared in Memphis, Tennessee, completedher undergraduate B.F.A. degree at Memphis State University, and studied at the Memphisacademy of Art. In 1974, Mary, with her two sons, moved to Washington, D.C. andproceeded to share her gifts with the D.C. community. Presently, Mary is continuing hereducation at Howard University’s Department of Fine Arts, where she is completing a Mastersin Fine Arts. Through painting, Mary has found that her work reinforces indigenous links withnature and reflects genetic memory of her African heritage. These factors spiritually guide hercreativity, causing the artist to have an African response to a Euro-western experience andartistic training, resulting in imagery that ranges from representational to abstract and combinationsof both.As a poet, Mary has also achieved notoriety through her poetry presentations with a group ofsister poets “The Message Makers,” who published an anthology of poetry, called Messagesfrom Black Women. Participation in this group has guided her spiritual development as well asconstantly reminding her of her responsibility to love, share and care for her own people, whilesharing her creative gifts with the world.Mary struggles to develop her business for she sees it, as a means of future employment,inspiration and information for young Blacks, particularly aspiring artists. Mary says: “We, theAfricans, are immortal masters of creativity and practical productivity. We must now acknowledgeand accept our achievements through love and support of our own abundant gifts, andthrough interest and compassion for our genetic bond as a people.” Mary’s art works havesolicited favorable reviews, and have been warmly received in several galleries, local andinternational. Her art and poetry have appeared in magazines and newspaper ads and hercommissioned works range from book and album covers to portraits and murals.Divider ArtworkArtwork on the divider pages is from the African textilecollection of the Indianapolis Museum of Art, courtesyof African Textiles 1994 Calendar.In Africa, both men and women weave, using cotton,wool, raffia, silk and man-made fibers such as rayon.A wide range of weaving techniques, as well as applique,embroidery, pattern dying, stamping and stenciling,are used to produce many types of cloth. Theinnovative compositions and the vitality of designs inbold and vivid colors set African textiles apart frommany other textile traditions. Despite the ongoingchanges in African life, traditionally made cloth is still aviable art form and an integral part of life in manyplaces.For more information contact:Pomegranate Calendars & Books, Box 6099, RohnerPark, CA 94927Photo CreditsPhotographs throughout this document are by FrankReynolds except as noted. We gratefully acknowledgethe Department of Economic and Urban Developmentand Isadore Washington for their contributions.To contact the artist:P.O. Box 481453Washington, D.C. 20002-0153(202) 396-3956