WITNESS THE PARLEY

One morning in Virginia at the Raid at Martin's, I was out running errands for Captain France... when I chanced to espy a large group of well dressed reenactors, colonials, Indians and several horses. They were being lead by a white haired fellow with a large camera.

I stopped to watch them pass, they were such and interesting looking bunch... when I was approached by the photographer.

"Hi there, I'm David Wright," he introduced himself, "Wanna be in a picture?"

And that's how I ended up at the "Treaty of Sycamore Shoals" that took place in 1775. The photograph, which I've been told is being called "Witness the Parley", was made for promotional purposes for an event called 'Daniel Smith Colonial Days' that'll take place on September 27 and 28, 2008 at Historic Rock Castle located in Hendersonville.

David gave instructions to those of us in the back of the picture like, "Move closer together" and "look like you're interested in what's going on."

He even instructed us to play act with our hands, like we were discussing the goings on and to gesture... which is how I ended up pointing with my thumb as if to say, "Oy, would you look at this lot?"

I've learned a valuable lesson from seeing myself in this picture... I'm NEVER wearing that black scarf on my head like that again. I look like I'm trying to be 'gangsta' in the 18th century. I look absolutely absurd.

You can see more of David Wright's art and even purchase prints and such on his website:

www.davidwrightart.com