Frank Jones began to draw in 1964 while serving a life sentence for murder in the Texas State Penitentiary in Huntsville. (Jones maintained his innocence, but was incarcerated for most of his adult life.) His drawing materials were salvaged stubs of red and blue accountant's pencils and sheets of typing paper from the trash cans in the prison office where he worked. Later, as his drawings received favorable attention inside and outside the prison, he was given better paper and new colored pencils. Jones experimented with other colors, but preferred red and blue, which he said represented fire and smoke.

Jones, an African American, was born with a portion of fetal membrane over his left eye. In the African American tradition, as well ...