Painted window screens is an old Baltimore original folk art that began in 1912 by William Oktavek
a Czechoslovakian immigrant who painted fruits and vegetables on his small grocery store screens to show his produce and move
the real items inside, out of the hot sweltering sun of the Baltimore summer. It worked so well that his customers
from all the ethnic neighborhoods of Canton, Fells Point and Highlandtown populated by other immigrants from
Poland, Germany, Italy, Ireland and many others of old Europe began requesting paintings of scenes
from the old countries. Thus began the famous Red Roof Cottage that made the art famous. It worked so well that that Will
was able to complete his training at the Maryland Institute of Art and begin an art shop painting and restoring works of art
throughout the State yet continue to teach and paint the screens of Baltimore.
I began painting window screens in 1945 when I was 10 years old after observing a local
screenpainter who I believe to have been Alonso Parks.
I have found and photographed several old screens painted by Alonso and was pleasantly surprised to see a simularity
in my work and his.
The general shape and color scheme of our Red Roof Bungelows ( the most painted type
screen ever and still the favorite ) Ivory colored house body, blue windows and red and blue colored flowering
hydrangea bushes. Other painters of that day including Oktavec, used a white house with black
or dark windows and standard green bushes.
Since I did have a little untrained talent and my mother realizing it could be way to keep me occupied
and out of most mischief during the long hot days of summer wisely supplied the 2.00 seed money to get started.
It worked fine, I painted her screens, my neighbors and pretty soon as I improved throughout the ethnic
neighborhoods of Cantom and Highlandtown. I continued to paint through high school and military service 1n
1954
