"I Am My Father's Child" Currently on Display at the Foundry Art Centre
JANUARY 15 - FEBRUARY 26, 2021
This exhibition will be hosted as both a virtual and physical exhibition.
Virtual Exhibition Launches January 22
THE EXHIBITION
Self Reflections is an exhibition asking how artists reflect on themselves and create self portraits. Whether it’s through abstract expression, photography, sculpture, or traditional portraiture, we want to see how artists recognize themselves in their work and portray themselves.
Open to all mediums, this exhibition will feature works that explore the world of portraiture in both classic and nontraditional forms. All two and three dimensional work will be considered for this physical and virtual exhibition.
520 N. Main Center | St. Charles, MO 63301
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636-255-0270
Anxiety
March 2018
The Anxiety Collection was Created in Clearwater, Florida for the 2018 Keepers of the Dream Celebration Hosted by ArtsReach and Kentucky Center in Louisville, Ky.
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The Anxiety Collection was created as I began to teach myself the Art of being still,
while maintaining a mantra of PEACE regardless of the CHOAS stirring inside of me.
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"I Am My Father's Child" is the title I chose to honor Fathers of Louisville, Kentucky participating in this Annual Celebration who continue to uphold the the
Memory and Dream of Martin Luther King Jr.
"I Am My Father's Child", a Self Portrait, presents an infinitely loving statement that, I am most certainly, My Father's Child.
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As the years passed by, I felt my Locs begging to be cut free from my head. Begrudgingly, I listened.
I was beside myself as I noticed many more Women cutting free.
Years after I assumed this piece was complete,
the COVID Pandemic spread to the U.S.
While practicing social distancing, I invested time into soothing anxiety by stitching my 4 year old Locs, a first time harvest,
into this self portrait.
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"I Am My Father's Child" is a surreal experience of a stirred spirit, locs from my head, and a yearning Artistic Soul, portrayed in a piece that yearns for technical structure. This piece bleeds vulnerability, I do feel exposed.
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This Collection also highlights the beginning my life's work "Conjuring and Conquering Anxiety"
Interpreting Anxiety
Anxiety Clouds
Keeper's of the Dream Louisville, Kentucky 2018
Martin Luther King, Jr. is arrested for "loitering" in Montgomery, Alabama, in September 1958. Credit: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
King is pushed back by Mississippi patrolmen during the 220-mile 'March Against Fear' from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi, on June 8, 1966.
— Underwood Archives via Getty Images file
The Rev. Ralph Abernathy, right, Bishop Julian Smith, left, and Martin Luther King Jr. during a civil rights march in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 28, 1968.
THOUGHT PROCESS
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My spirit yearns for order and perfection although it doesn't exist, so it's only right I warn you that these images are not in order. Sharing the process includes sharing the intention of image placement. I've started with a video of my Locs being washed. Before the wash, my Locs were stowed away in a filing cabinet without proper wrapping or ceremony. During this time, the foundation I built for my future was crumbling beneath my feet, my environment was spiraling out of control, my Locs were cut and discarded. I took to the road in search of self, traveling to Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana as word of the Virus spread catching up and grounding me in my hometown of Radcliff, Ky. After a few months the winds urged me out of the safety of my parents home back to Florida to evolve, my passage into womanhood I suppose, a late bloomer. Funds were low, rent was due and I was running low on hope, going back to work was no longer an option. While spending time putting my life back together, I came across my locs in the filing cabinet, I felt reunited with my old self, a little ashamed that I left them behind in such poor condition.
Amidst the turmoil a very good friend encouraged me to create...
I shared with her my idea of stitching my Locs into the Self Portrait. Her excited tone filled my low spirits so much that I stitched with red and orange thread to honor her encouraging efforts.
The first photo (below) was taken when I finally decided to let it all go. This was my first time growing Locs, I didn't have a clue what I was doing, I did the best I could but they just got so dry I felt like they would fall out any minute... So I did what I had to do. That photo was taken
November 10, 2019. Fast forward July 14, 2020, after the wash I took my Locs outside in the Florida sun to commune with nature... well really it was to sulk - I felt robbed, like I should have been surrounded by my tribe, celebrating this moment in time that had no name, its title is lost in a history I have yet to learn... Looking back I understand I was communing with nature although not as present in the moment as I would have like to have been for all the sulking, but the Locs did get a lot of love after their stay in the filing cabinet. Sometimes Kings Celebrate Alone. The hair ornaments were gifts from my Mindset Coach Free Spirit, who taught me my Affirmations and the importance of Gratitude, her teachings set my career on a clear path. I am forever grateful. The green button stitched into my Locs signifies my frustration for the traditional paintbrush and canvas. I've never loved my paintings... they feel so inadequate, my paintings highlight my vulnerability, the green button encourages me to continue searching for a medium that agrees with my Artistic Soul. Heavily influenced by the stitch work of my good friend, Jinn Bug, I made sure to allow the Locs movement, inviting a willing audience to touch, feel, and play with the Art : . Happy Creating Folks : .
I am my father's child coloring page
$1.00 Download PDF
8.5" X 11"
*ART TIP* Printing on Cardstock Paper is a great way to access a variety of mediums such as
paint, color pencils, even alcohol ink markers!
"I Am My Father's Child"
Self Portrait
This image was created in support of my most recently augmented painting "I Am My Father's Child"
I've heard quite often of my line work, "I would love to color inside those lines!" To myself I'm thinking who is crazy enough to WANT to color all that in! Then again, I was crazy enough to draw all those lines,
so your crazies must most certainly exist as well...
"I Am My Father's Child" coloring page derives from a painting created for the Annual Kentucky Center for the Arts, with ArtsReach, Presentation
"Keepers of the Dream"
as we pay tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. #HONORED
For this event I decided to focus on Fathers, as my Father continues to play such a wholesome role in my life. Relationships are strange,
ALL OF THEM. I Am My Father's Child reflects my interpretation of the ups and downs that are
SURE to exist in every relationship,
not limited to parental.
This image covers the scope of complex community relationships all the way to the simplicity of passing a stranger on the street, ANXIETY. As an Empath, my heart connects to ALL. We take it ALL in, the good and the bad. We pray Peace, that our Bleeding Hearts
may share rest with the weary.
May you enjoy your coloring adventure while calming
your most beautiful Artistic Soul.
Happy Creating Folks : .