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Artistic talents come to the surface after Caroline County man is mugged Date published: 7/17/2009
By CATHY DYSON A blow to the head turned Joe DeGraff into an artist. The Caroline County man was mugged in 1995 at a campground where he and his family stayed regularly. He never saw who hit him at the base of the skull with something hefty--maybe a two-by-four--and emptied his wallet. His neck swelled up like a football, and his brain had a bruise the size of a silver dollar. For a year, DeGraff, now 69, couldn't remember events that just happened, and he had a hard time writing his name. He'd always been a doodler, but couldn't draw a straight line--or an image anyone would recognize--to save his life. As he practiced his signature, his doodles started to go in directions they'd never been. DeGraff sketched a barn and a little house, "just like a kindergartner would do." Then he drew more complicated landscapes, with trees, hills and migrating birds. His wife, Lucy, got him sketch pads and colored pencils, and DeGraff roughed out water scenes from places in Florida, where they had lived. He sketched them first in pencil, then in color when he was satisfied. He created colorful castles and coal mines, rustic covered bridges and peaceful countrysides in a folk-art style similar to work done by Grandma Moses. "I tried to draw over the years but never could," he said. "Like my pastor said, something good came out of something bad." DeGraff didn't keep his newfound talent to himself. He rolled up his sketches, put them in "high-dollar paper-towel holders" and took them to work. He's an attendant at the Barn Convenience Site near Lake Anna, and he likes to chat with people as they drop off trash. If he senses that a person would appreciate his art--and not toss it in one of the bins around him--he gives that person a drawing. "I've done well over a thousand," said DeGraff, who corrected himself and added, "I've given away that many." He loves the looks and hugs he gets when he gives an elderly person a dance hall scene from back in the day or an image of rolling farm fields. His fans love him as well.
Read more stories about Caroline Date published: 7/17/2009
What a great story. I enjoyed reading this. So many people
concentrate on the negative things, it's nice to see people make something positive out of a bad situation.
Thank you FLS for this story. When bad things happen many people are quick to complain but this man has made the most of a bad situation. Very inspirational!
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