The paintings had been behind plexiglass since 1976, and we are not sure if the plexiglass had ever been removed. We think not. The old county jail had sat abandoned since 2005, so we know there was at least 15 years of dust obscuring the beauty of the brother’s art. We used ‘the world’s softest’ brush to carefully remove dust, specks of dirt, and even concrete streaks on one painting. None of the paintings were altered, damaged, or changed during the cleaning process.
We used cloth sheets to block some of the very harsh, stray light that created dark shadows on some of paintings. We needed even lighting in order to make accurate color prints. Different types of lights are different color temperatures, and it can make an image look a little squirrelly.
At times we had all of the windows to the outside blocked out, and a few of the harsher lights that were probably added after the brothers put the art on the walls. In doing this, we ensured that the colors of the prints match the colors of the actual paintings.
The gear we used was a Canon 5D IV, Canon TS-E 17mm lens, on-camera monitor to get pinpoint focus, tripod, and a wireless shutter release to reduce camera vibration.
FrameMaster is family owned by Tim & April Francis in Edmond, Oklahoma. FrameMaster showcases artwork by local and nationally known artists. They were the perfect choice to install the Jailhouse Prints within the main floor of the Garfield County Courthouse. Now, anyone can enjoy these works of Burgess and Paladine Roye.
In 2020, Galen Culver visited for an episode of his popular program ‘Is This a Great State or What’, airing on KFOR, Oklahoma, City, Oklahoma.
Galen is a reporter/photographer for Oklahoma’s News 4 who produces, shoots, writes, and edits a feature segment called, “Is This a Great State or What?” He just recently celebrated his 25th anniversary as the originator of that series.
This episode aired in January of 2021, and is shown here with Galen’s permission.