Jillian's Smorgasboard.

A friend of mine that I've known for a very long time reached out to me to ask me to create something special for her sister for her birthday. Come to find out, they have a relationship similar to my sister and me. This particular piece was 11x14 inches and took me over 40 hours to do, but here it is.

I think of these smorgasBOARDS as a visual representation of what makes someone who they are. It's like a puzzle I have to put together. It's so great. I've included some detailed shots so you can see some of the areas I really loved.

Willow.

I recently painted this portrait of Willow the cat. It was from a fish eye photo. Willow passed away at the end of May and crossed over the Rainbow Bridge. I wanted to push and challenge myself with this one by focusing on textures. I really loved the way it came out and so did Willow's owner.

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Yesterday was Matt's birthday and we go all out with our birthday cards to each other. For his this year, I made a mixed media cut paper pop up card featuring a little 2 inch version of his dog, Riley, that I used gouache paint for.

Josephine Baker.

Been having a hard time creating lately, but this portrait of Josephine Baker came to me so effortlessly last night. I did it in just under an hour in procreate. Did you know Josephine Baker was AMAZING?! She was part of the resistance and would share secrets she gathered from the nazi regime via invisible ink on sheet music! She also fought against racism and she was all about equality!

Toby the Toad.

This isn't the first time I've been inspired by Toby the Toad (and it won't be my last). I've been having a hard time getting going creatively. I'm lacking motivation and the inspiration just isn't striking me. It has been negatively impacting me because I tend to be pretty hard on myself as it is. After attempting to draw something three times, I gave up and started scrolling on social media. I happened upon a photo of Toby making smoothies and decided to just let myself have fun and not focus too much on the actual process of creating it. This is the end result! No lines (a new thing for me) and lots of bright colors. You can find Toby the Toad over on instagram!

Hawaii.

A friend of mine asked me to create something very unique and special for her husband for their 2 year wedding anniversary. I was all too happy to jump to the challenge. It's funny because I expected this to take me a couple of hours tops, but it ended up taking NINE! I tend to get lost in the details of everything I do. I find this to be both a blessing and a curse, but I also learned a lot along the way. I did this in procreate and printed it at 6x8 inches. Sarah was very specific about what she was looking for from the drinks to the flowers to the landscape; she really wanted it to capture HAWAII. She was so happy to receive it and her husband even made it the background for his phone.

Gladys Bentley.

This is Gladys Bentley and I only just learned about her this past week. 

Jasica Gill from Women Sound Off described Gladys as "a Black gender-nonconforming lesbian who dominated the Harlem Renaissance."

She was revolutionary in her masculinity as James F. Wilson writes, "differing from the traditional male impersonator, or drag king, in the popular theater, Gladys Bentley did not try to 'pass' as a man, nor did she playfully try to deceive her audience into believing she was biologically male. Instead, she exerted a 'black female masculinity' that troubled the distinctions between black and white and masculine and feminine." 

I listened to some of her songs on YouTube, they're gritty and her vocals are so unique. She was known for sporting a tuxedo and a top hat and I was instantly inspired by her. Look at how cool she is! Although the photos I found of her were in black and white, I wanted to showcase Gladys in vibrant color because when she took the stage, there's no way she didn't light up the room.