One of five kids, Chris Clark was born in Birmingham, Alabama on October 25, 1958. He graduated from Ensley High School in 1977 and attended Livingston University for three years. He joined the Army in 1980, and he stayed in the service until 1988. When he returned home he worked in a brick factory until the plant shut down.
In 1990, Chris's vision began to blur and he had a hard time finding employment. He asked his grandma to teach him how to quilt. He began painting on his quilts, despite his grandma's protests. Chris feared losing his sight and death; therefore he made visual records of his childhood memories. Two years after he started painting quilts, a woman at a flea market bought some of his quilts for one hundred dollars each. He felt he had made it as an artist. Later Clark was diagnosed and treated for diabetes and his eyesight improved.
Although Clark is widely revered for his quilts, he also paints on sticks, branches, furniture, as well as new and used canvases. He uses the sticks and branches to create "spirit sticks" and crosses that are inspired by a dream he had in church one day. He said that they are a natural extension of his painted quilts and they are about "good luck, good spirit." He creates collages on old chairs and desks by boldly painting and decorating the entire surfaces with items such as, pennies, Duplo blocks, beads, bottle caps, rocks and toys.
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