In Conroe, an afternoon aboard RMS Titanic, painted with coal from the wreck

CONROE, TX -- The coal was recovered from the wreck site of RMS Titanic during a 1994 expedition by RMS Titanic, Inc. In the hands of Texas artist Dirk Strangely, it is ground into pigment, refined into museum-grade paint, and placed where he believes it belongs: in the eyes of the people who sailed aboard her.

On Thursday, December 10, Strangely will bring those portraits to Paulette Café in Historic Downtown Conroe for Souls of the Titanic: 1st Class Afternoon Tea, Music & Art, an intimate gathering limited to just 50 guests.

The afternoon will also mark a first for the artist. Before a live audience, Strangely will create an original portrait using a 1912-era metal quill nib dipped in ink containing authenticated Titanic coal. The demonstration will offer guests a rare opportunity to witness the creation of Artifactism™, an artistic genre founded by Strangely in which authenticated historical artifacts become part of the medium of the artwork itself.

At the center of the exhibition is Souls of the Titanic, a series of twelve original paintings, still in progress, depicting the real passengers and crew who sailed aboard the ill-fated ocean liner. Each portrait is painted on a page from a 1912 book, Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters, mounted to wood panel, with 24-karat gold leaf accents. The coal recovered from Titanic appears in the pupils of each subject's eyes and in the artist's signature.

"Most people know Titanic as a ship," Strangely said. "I wanted to paint the souls who were aboard her. Putting the coal in their eyes is my way of connecting us to those passengers, and to Titanic, in a tangible form.

"Artifactism™ challenges the traditional separation between a historical artifact and the artwork created to commemorate it. Rather than simply depicting history, Strangely incorporates a physical piece of that history into the work itself. In doing so, each finished piece becomes an artifact of Titanic in its own right.

The December gathering will also feature the unveiling of his newest portrait, depicting Margaret Brown, the Denver philanthropist and Titanic survivor remembered as the "Unsinkable" Molly Brown. It will be shown alongside his completed portraits of Captain Edward John Smith and of Isidor and Ida Straus, as well as early conceptual studies Strangely created while exploring how the series would be presented and made.

For Strangely, the live demonstration carries particular significance.

"Nobody has ever seen me do this in person before," he said. "There will only ever be one first, and I wanted it to happen in a room full of people who care about this history as much as I do."

The setting is designed to evoke the elegance of First Class aboard Titanic in 1912. Guests will enjoy a traditional afternoon tea featuring delicate finger sandwiches, tarts, and éclairs, served with tea or coffee on replica White Star Line Wisteria china, reproducing the historic pattern used in Titanic's First Class Dining Saloon and Verandah Café.

A live string ensemble featuring violin and cello will perform selections from the repertoire of Wallace Hartley, Titanic's bandmaster, whose musicians famously continued playing as the ship went down.

Alongside the portraits, visitors will encounter White Star Line pieces and historical memorabilia from Strangely's private collection. Among them are passenger trunks bearing original White Star Line labels, a 1910 postcard featuring artwork by Francis Davis Millet, the American painter who perished aboard Titanic, and a book personally signed by survivor Eva Hart, who was seven years old when the ship sank.

Period attire is encouraged, allowing guests to become part of the historical atmosphere. Each attendee will receive a commemorative boarding pass, a keepsake menu, a portrait photograph taken in their attire and presented in a keepsake booklet, and a postcard to write to someone special. The postcards will be stamped and mailed on their behalf.

Strangely is a United States Navy veteran, a professional artist with 25 years of experience, and the founder of Silverback Events LLC in Conroe, Texas.

While Titanic has inspired generations of films, books, exhibitions, and historical research, Strangely's work approaches the story through the physical remains of the ship itself.

More than a century after Titanic disappeared beneath the North Atlantic, fragments of its history are finding their way into the eyes of the people who once walked its decks.

Event Details
Souls of the Titanic: 1st Class Afternoon Tea, Music & Art
Date: Thursday, December 10, 2026
Time: 4:30 to 7:00 p.m.
Location: Paulette Café, 406 N Thompson St, Conroe, TX 77301
Admission: $150 per guest. Limited to 50 seats.
Age requirements: Guests must be 13 or older. Tickets must be purchased by an adult 18 or older.
Tickets: www.soulsofthetitanic.com