My Artistic Inspirations

Hello friends,

Happy January, Happy New Year! I am so glad you are here! This is my first monthly blog post. We are kicking off a new calendar year right! It is my intention to send out a regular monthly blog to ya’ll. And this first one… Well, it is gonna be juicy! Today I am going to talk about my artistic inspiration and vision for my art-making. I have many things that I find inspiration in and they all connect and make sense to me, but maybe not to you! So I wrote about some of the things that are currently on my mind, in my heart, tickling my spirit, and showing up on my canvases. First, here are some business updates:

My Inspiration (or at least some of my current inspirations)

I find endless inspiration from the world of science fiction, specifically visionary fiction. Not your doomy, gloomy apocalypse or dystopian futures void of any hope or survival, neither the perfect utopia. Instead, visionary fiction, a concept I am learning about through social justice + creative visionaries such as Walidah Imarisha and adrienne marie brown, offers us futures and alternative realities where traditionally marginalized communities are centered and revered for their bottom-up strategies and collective contributions to change. I have always been interested in folks who dedicate their lives to better their communities through working in unison and contributing to their worlds in new, creative ways. Architects, poets, designers, artists, educators, social justice advocates, biologists, science writers, facilitators - they all enamor me. When I was a classroom teacher, I was so very dedicated to my community. I worked tirelessly to better my practice, serve my students and their families, and support my fellow teacher colleagues. Even having been one of these folks who enjoys serving, I continue to seek the answer to this big question: What is it exactly that drives certain people to make the world a better place? 

For the past three years, I have been voraciously consuming the Star Trek shows. It’s been a little pandemic project of sorts. On my “first time Trek”, I have been asking myself why this? How did Star Trek become my thing? And I think it is because this show always offers hope - there is always a goal to do better for the whole. Yes, there are still colonizers in Star Trek. I know it is not perfect. Sometimes episodes and seasons center on war, similar to Star Wars. But for the most part, humanoids of the Star Trek future have surpassed and solved some of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. Climate change, capitalism, imperialism, poverty, economic and ecological collapse. These are all challenges of the Earth's past. We did it. We worked together to solve many of the problems that seemed impossible to solve. This is why I look to both science fiction film and texts for fresh takes on alternatives for our current heading. I seek hope. I seek solutions. 

The written works of Octavia Butler, Ursula Le Guin, as well as contemporary authors such as Nnedi Okorafur, and N.K. Jemison are just some of the writers and visionaries of the science fiction genre. I cannot consume their envisions of our futures and alternative worlds fast enough. The writers who dare to create something completely different inspire me every single day of my life. They inspire the way I move through the world. Because of their writing, I ask myself: What would Ursula think of this situation? and: What would Lauren Olamina (Butler’s lead protagonist in Parable of the Sower) do in response to this? My partner sees me get frustrated with current politics, expressing my are-we-not-beyond-this? facial expressions at the radio. I have these Black women of science fiction, visionary fiction, and afrofuturism to thank for teaching and showing me new perspectives and raising my standards for reality on planet earth.

I have always loved outdated visual depictions of futures that never came - the retrofutures. I find the architecture and design from the post-war era particularly fascinating. Mid-century modern architects believed architecture was going to save the world and their designs reveal their intentions. The colors, the enamoration with space and technology, the shapes, textures, the (sometimes laughable) attempts to control Nature . I feel like we continue to obsess over technology for the sake of technology. And we take progress for granted, assuming all progress is good. There is still so much adoration and fascination with technology today. I wonder if we'll look back on ourselves and laugh at our invested faith that something outside of us (community) can save us just as we look back and laugh at the 1950s.

Mama Earth and all things living on our planet provide me a bottomless well of creative ideas and perspectives. Mycelial networks, symbiosis, mutualism, murmurations, migration, the science of trees, bees, dolphins, and countless others - all enchant me. Backpacking, camping, hiking, or just sitting by a river are things I wish I could do every day. I have had the privilege to live in places where walking by a river was a daily reality for me and I hope to get back to that one day. Landscape shows up in my art and aesthetic so much because being outside brings me so much awe and joy. 

My Purpose + Vision

Creativity, Connection, and Community. These are the three words I aim to embody in everything I do and create. I aspire to deepen my own creativity as well as others’ relationship to creativity. I hope to connect to my true self in my relationship to Nature as well as my relationships with other people. It is through tapping into community, serving community, where I feel a strong sense of purpose and belonging. It is my intention to always give back and serve a bigger community than my own household and family relations. I see my art practice as a way to construct and maintain a conduit with the “outside world” and the people that will exist and continue to exist after my lifetime. “Heal yourself, heal the world” is an ancient mantra that I carry with me always. I know a lot of creatives get wrapped up in their own little studio worlds and I want my practice to continue to grow into something bigger than me. We are all learning that healing does not happen in a vacuum. We heal when we can co-regulate and co-create. I aspire to truly serve my creative community in ways that are collaborative and healing for all. I understand this to be my inner Educator coming out and making sense of this big transition from classroom to artist studio. 

Yes, I want to sell my art and see it in people’s homes. I want my friends, family, and community to be able to have access to framable prints of my work. I also want to see my work in galleries, collaborative gathering places, public spaces, on water bottles, and shared on the internet. One day, I hope to make and build art that is more accessible and not just in the 2D. I am learning how to make three dimensional renderings of spaces. And I want to one day collaborate with folks that work in sound and music. It is my desire to continue to collaborate with folks, orgs, and businesses that are serving our community in ways that I can align with. I am an Artist. I make Art. But I also make and create so much more than what can be seen in my current two-dimensional renderings. 

Thanks again for following along on this big, fun, exciting journey of mine. Thank you for being part of my creative community. It is a village of sorts.