About the artist:

I was born and raised in Williamsburg, my friends who I went to kindergarten with were Jewish. I used to play with them, eat with them. We all said we were going to be artists. I spent a lot of time around Eastern European Jewish. Yiddish was common, Hebrew was common. Bagels were common." - Theadius McCall interviewed in The Jewish Week by Susan Gilman The interview continues, "I paint traditional Jews just like I paint traditional black people, I like the values, the way these people 'keep the ways.'" McCall has never taken an art class, exhibited in local galleries or employed by an agent. And yet he has managed to thrive - let alone survive - as an artist, creating greeting cards and selling work to companies and affluent collectors. Much of his success is due to his other talent: business. Adept at the art of the deal he markets his own work and says flatly, "There's no reason for good artists to be starving artists. You've got to merchandise. If I'm going to be an artist, I'm going to be famous. I'm not going to suffer. Years ago Golda Meir evidently invited him to Israel but he says he declined becahse he had finished painting his Jewish series.