don’t worry darling.
acrylic on canvas
4″x4″

Here is a sneak peak at new pieces that will be for sale at the Durham Art Walk November 21st and 22nd. These pieces are a part of my Faces||Story series.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Walt Whitman, Henry David Thoreau, and Mark Twain! **clapping**

Mark your calendars for a spectacular event in downtown Durham: Durham Art Walk, November 21st and 22nd. There are over 200 locations and over 400 artists. I will be in the lobby of West Village with a new series! Come see me!

Durham Art Walk

The Durham Art Walk is presented and produced by the Durham Arts Council with support from The City of Durham Parks and Recreation Department and many generous community sponsors.

I am initiating a new aspect of my blog, which is called Story Behind the Painting.  Story Behind the Painting will include one blog post each month that will give you background information about a particular painting.  I will share with you my ideas and/or experiences surrounding the painting and the process I used to create the piece. I would love to have your feedback, so please comment!

Story Behind the Painting #1: AFRICAN GIRL WITH CUP

A good friend of mine, Garry Dodds, was in Africa – Kenya for 3 months and Uganda for 2 months – this past year working with various NGOs, families, community organizations, and other groups/individuals he found along the way. While in Nakuru, Kenya, he volunteered at Arap Moi Children’s Home, a local orphanage, teaching various subjects like English and History. During recess he would play with the kids, including a young girl who has “two really big funny front teeth,” loves to dance, is “funny, and not too shy at all.” She would dance by “placing [her] hands on [her] hips and shifting around somehow.”

Garry sent me a letter from Uganda with this photo of her included:

I loved her eyes as well as the colors and composition of the photo.
And thus, using my own style and media, a painting was born…

I first started with a gray background. Next, I sketched the girl. I then taped off and covered the sketch in order to spray paint the green part of the background. Color was then applied to the girl and cup, and all was outlined in black.

This painting is a part of the Faces||Story series, which includes many other portraits in this style. View the complete series here.

Thanks Garry for sharing your stories of life’s journey with me.

Be on the look out for next month’s Story Behind the Painting.

I added new paintings and drawings on canvas and paper to my Etsy store, including Fuzzy Reflections, a piece exploring reflections – both thoughts and mirrored images – and the distortions of reality they can create:

Purchase this piece and others at my Etsy store, tINK makes art.

African Girl with Cup
Acrylic and Spray Paint on Canvas – 12×24”
$150

The deadline to purchase the All-You-Can-Jet Pass was Friday, August 21. Unfortunately, I did not raise enough money to purchase the pass before Jet blue sold out of the limited number of passes available. I contacted Jet Blue before the deadline and before the passes were sold out in hopes to receive a complimentary pass, but have yet to receive a response from their corporate office. Although I do not have the All-You-Can-Jet Pass, the What One Can Do With Blue project has not been cancelled but reconstructed. My eagerness to see this project to completion has not faltered even though a major aspect of its initial plan has failed. God gave me a heart for people and for bringing encouragement and hope where they are needed. This project was developed for a purpose, and I am determined to make it happen.

I have reconfigured my project plans but have kept the same overarching purpose: to bring attention and appreciation to admirable, local humanitarian based non-profits and organizations across the nation. I will still be performing the same activities as in the previous project outline: working with the organizations for a set number of days and documenting the experience using text and audio from interviews, video and photography, press releases and print articles, as well as blog posts and other forms of social networking updates.  I will also produce one piece of artwork for each organization, which they can do with as they please. The only changes to the original plan are to the timeline and cities. Originally, the project was to stretch over one month in ten cities. Because this ten-cities-in-one-month itinerary is no longer possible due to finances, I will now start locally and visit various cities when I have the funds to do so. Priority cities include Jacksonville/St. Augustine, Florida and New York, New York as I already have several contacts with various organizations in both locations. The project will take place over the course of one year ending in Fall 2010.

I will begin in Durham/Chapel Hill/Raleigh, North Carolina focusing on 2-3 organizations in the area. I have already confirmed participation with the Arc of Orange County, which provides advocacy and services for people with developmental disabilities. In addition to volunteering and documenting the experience, I am donating a piece of art to the Arc’s annual Festival of Trees Art Walk of Fame art auction with proceeds benefiting the Arc (http://www.arcoforange.org/fot/artwalk.shtml).

Although not obtaining an All-You-Can-Jet Pass was initially disheartening to me, I have come to understand that everything happens for a reason. The benefits of reconstructing the project to stretch over a longer period of time are, but not limited to, the following:

1. I am able to properly plan out the project to every minor detail
2. I have more time to raise necessary funds to support the project
3. I am able to thoroughly research equipment and purchase these items as funds become available
4. I will be able to spend more time with each organization
5. I hope to create larger works of art as well as a variety of pieces including installations/murals/etc.
6. I can focus more attention on writing blog posts, editing and posting photos and videos, etc.

I believe having more time to plan, focus, and act will truly make this project a success.

I am still accepting donations for this project, which will be used for travel, equipment, materials, and other project-related expenses. Many of you have already donated money to the project, and I thank you tremendously for your support. I understand that the project has changed from its original nature, therefore I want to offer a refund to anyone who has already donated. If you would like your donation refunded, please contact me. I completely understand as the existing project with its changes is not what you contributed to.

DONATE

I thank you all for your encouragement and support. Things often do not work out as we originally plan. That is why we learn to adapt!

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me.

My current work combines creativity with activism:
What One Can Do With Blue…

On Friday, August 14, Jet Blue released the All-You-Can-Jet Pass. The pass allows passengers unlimited flights to and from Jet Blue destinations September 8-October 8, 2009.  As an artist, humanitarian, and adventurer, I am maximizing this opportunity by creating a documentary that highlights the work of great social causes in a one month, cross-country tour. I will visit ten cities (listed below) in thirty days with one purpose: to bring attention and appreciation to local humanitarian based non-profits and organizations across the nation. I will spend two to four days with each group conducting volunteer work and learning more about the group’s cause. I will document the tour using text and audio from interviews, video and photography, press releases and print articles, as well as blog posts and other forms of social networking updates.  I will also produce one piece of artwork in each city representing the organizations involved in the respective city as well as my project sponsors.

Cities*:
1. New Orleans, LA
2. Austin, TX
3. San Diego, CA
4. Phoenix/Window Rock, AZ
5. Seattle, WA
6. Chicago, IL
7. New York, NY
8. Boston, MA
9. Jacksonville/St. Augustine, FL
10. Durham/Raleigh/Chapel Hill, NC
*Subject to change

Without financial contributions from businesses, organizations, and individuals, this project would not be possible. It will take only $10 from 70 people to cover the cost of JetBlue’s All-You-Can-Jet Pass. Additional money received through this fundraising campaign will go towards accommodations, food, and equipment for the tour. If you would like to support this project with a $10 donation, please visit the DONATE link below. Again, this project would not be possible without donors like you.

Thank you for your support!

DONATE

As a member of the Jedidiah Clothing Street Team,  I am posting a 10% off discount code for you to use in the Jedidiah online store. Not only are there awesome threads to buy but also great accessories and artist canvas prints. A portion of your purchase will support the Jedidiah sponsored humanitarian causes through Jedidiah’s 1% for Humanity commitment.

Discount Code: streetteam09
Enter this code under Redeem a Discount Coupon at the bottom of the Your Shopping Cart: Items page before you check out.

Take advantage of the discount code here. Enjoy!

Completing paintings is always a great sense of accomplishment. I recently applied for the Durham Art Guild Golden Belt Residency, but in order to have a cohesive portfolio for my application, I needed to paint several more portraits to expand the Faces||Story series.

The series started with portraits of an African woman, a cowboy, and Henry Kissinger. I have a huge passion for people: their faces, eyes, emotions, beauties, pains, and joys. So, this series, unlike many others, is not difficult for me to stick with. It is important to note that within this series is a smaller series, which was commissioned by Strouse Campbell, my boyfriend and subsequently a collector. He admired the style of the first three portraits and wanted paintings of his own that represented who he deemed “Badasses:” Cynthia McKinney, Ron Paul, Dead Prez, Dennis Kucinich, and Steven Jones. The series will continue to grow with people recognizable, individuals you may need to look up, and others that are more a representation of a population or emotion rather than a real person.

So, here are a couple I completed within the past few weeks. What do you think? Who would you like to see added to the series?