ERIC HASERT staff photographer

Local artist James Gibson, 65, discusses his career as one of the Highwaymen from his Fort Pierce home. Gibson is featured in this month’s People magazine as a successful member of the Highwaymen, a group of young black artists in the 1950s and 1960s who painted Florida landscapes and sold them along the state’s highways and roadways.

photo provided

FORT PIERCE -- There was a time when James Gibson took stacks of wet paintings from his car trunk and

haggled to use them as down payments for furniture, vehicles and even to pay for groceries.
After all, in the late 1950s, his colorful Florida landscape scenes were fetching more than many people made from an entire day's wage.
Gibson and other young black artists in the Fort Pierce area -- now known as the Highwaymen -- were routinely traveling throughout the state selling their works door to door as inexpensive decor for offices, banks, hotels and homes.
But Gibson had no idea his works, which sold for $800 to $7,000, would end up in a Steven Spielberg film, in the hands of celebrities and at the White House.
The 65-year-old Fort Pierce resident is featured in this month's edition of People magazine, a publication with an estimated readership last year of nearly 37 million.
"It took three or four days to focus that it really happened," Gibson said.
However, the telephone is a ringing reminder. On Wednesday morning alone, Gibson received 10 calls from people interested in his works. Last Sunday, a Colorado woman who read the two-page article flew into town.
"She made a special trip to buy two paintings," he said.
Gov. Jeb Bush has recognized Gibson's works and commissioned him to create several paintings. He also enjoyed an exhibit displaying 20 of his works in the Governor's Gallery and 35 paintings in the state's Supreme Court building.
Last winter, Gibson was invited to visit the White House and donate one of his small works as a holiday decoration. A photograph in his living room shows Gibson posing next to First Lady Laura Bush in front of a Christmas tree.
This past spring, Gibson traveled with Gov. Bush's wife, Columba, to Duval Elementary in Gainesville, a school with a specific Highwaymen art program, to discuss his life and display prints of his artwork to students.
"Anytime she is around promoting the arts in the area [that] he's in, we invite him," said Leslie Steele, a public information officer for the governor's office.
Gibson plans to again promote arts in schools this year with Columba Bush.
The exposure from the recent People article has produced more buzz concerning his career.
A New York man recently called asking to become his manager, Gibson said. Although he turned him down, Gibson is waiting to hear back from a woman who identified herself as a screenwriter interested in the story of the Highwaymen.
"There is a story that transcends the art world," said Jon Ward, director of the St. Lucie County Cultural Affairs Council.
Using hard work, talent and salesmanship, these painters pulled themselves up from relative obscurity to become prolific artists, he said.
"I would say that Mr. Gibson is a good example of the kind of person it takes to be a Highwayman," Ward said. "He's outgoing, sure of himself and confident in his work. He is literally his own best salesmen."
Gibson said he was majoring in biology at Tennessee State University when his friend, Alfred Hair, sent him a letter about how he was making a fortune selling his paintings.
"We were always competitive," Gibson said. "He would try to outdo me and I'd try to outdo him."
Hair -- often considered to be the founder of the Highwaymen who was shot and killed in a Fort Pierce bar in 1970 -- was a protg of local Florida landscape artist A.E. "Bean" Backus. Gibson said he dropped out of school to move back to his hometown of Fort Pierce to study with the two men.
On the side, Hair was also informally teaching many of his skills to others in the neighborhood.
"All of them were friends," said Doretha Hair Truesdell, the widow of Alfred Hair. "They would get together to paint together."
Some created frames, painted their own works or focused on the art of salesmanship.
Gibson was one of five or six "hardcore" artists in the group who took both their painting and business seriously, Truesdell said. "He really got a good grasp of it because he tried all the time. He really put his heart into it."
Gibson was proud when he sold his first painting to a local doctor for $20.
Once, in a single day, Gibson said he managed to produce 100 paintings. The effort took three or four days to prepare for and almost as much time to recover, he said.
Over the years, Highwaymen works, oftentimes created on inexpensive roofing material called Upson board instead of canvas, have become cherished prizes in art collections and garnered critical praise.
On Valentines Day several years ago, Gibson got a telephone call asking if he could fix one of his works that a small child had accidentally smudged. Later, a large limousine pulled up in the neighborhood and soon country singer Crystal Gayle and her entourage were walking into his house, Gibson said.
"They wanted me to touch it up," he said. "I didn't know it was her."
Two of his images were also used as set pieces in the background of Steven Spielberg's movie "Catch Me If You Can."
With some financial security, Gibson said he spends more time on his works. With no plans to relocate from his hometown, Gibson takes his brushes and easels outside during quiet moments in the early morning and evening.
"I just want to paint," he said.
- jason.geary@scripps.com