Whether attending a festival to enjoy good music, to serve the community, or to work as a face painter or vendor, festival life has become THE LIFE from Spring to late Fall. With Durham Art Guild's Swing Into Spring arts fundraiser to kick off this year's festival season in the Triangle, I've had quite a few that I enjoy participating in each year. Those include the Eno Festival, the African American Cultural Festival, and the Art of Cool Festival; however, there are so many more that take place. The Dreamville Festival was scheduled to kick off this year in Raleigh, and I was reeeeeally looking forward to being a part of its Art Market. It was canceled due to Hurricane Florence, but will be happening next year on April 6th instead, so I will still be looking forward to that. Mark your calendars now!

  Each event has its own type of crowd as well. Being a vendor at events for the past year now, I've learned to better prepare and cater to my audience. I'm still learning and growing, but here are some photos from past occasions where I've vended. The evolution is real. Thanks for reading!

  In the words of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, "There's NO place like home!" I'm officially ten full weeks in at my new place, and this is the very first time I have felt "at home" since moving to North Carolina. The word [home] alone is one that has given me mixed feelings my whole life. Growing up in two separate households from the ages of 12 through 18 as well as living as a first-generation [naturalized] American, "home" always felt bittersweet and family gatherings grew strange. I dreamed of one day starting over and being able to create a home and family of my own. Fast forward 11 years, and I'm almost halfway there!
  Earlier this year, the phrase "Home is where the heart is" had me pondering the idea of 'home' all over again. I was participating in an art auction and fundraiser hosted by the Carrack Modern Art and Smashing Boxes for Habitat for Humanity of Durham, where they used the phrase as the event theme. "Where was my heart,' I wondered.

  The answer is that my heart is in good ol' North Carolina... for now. NC is where I found what I love to do and where I learned to heal and love myself fully. NC is where I finally came out of my comfort zone, and grew up. I am grateful for this place. I settled into my first apartment here. I lived by myself for the first time here, and I feel like I can call my residence "home" without lingering feelings of sadness.
  In the ten weeks it took me to settle into my apartment, the wall art I imagined hanging up slowly came to life. I wanted some pieces to match the love counter top decor and beach-theme shower curtain and colors of my bathroom. I learned a lace and spray paint technique I tried out on the background and used other inspirations from there. See below for that transformation and read on for the revamped classroom caddie, refurbished bookshelf, and reused window decor projects I did for my living room as well!

  I recently had the honor of lettering a huge, overhead chalkboard menu for Zweli's, a Zimbabwean restaurant that opened up its doors to customers in Durham, North Carolina in late June 2018. It was a great opportunity, especially with it being the first time I had ever done such a large-scale project. Although I had the pleasure of getting this job under my belt and having much of the process video documented, two major and hard lessons were learned as well through unexpected challenges I had to face first-hand. Check out the video below and continue reading for two things all creative business owners and/or DIY-ers should know when tackling similar projects!

  Going down Memory Lane today to share photos I took at an artist's exhibition at the Scrap Exchange three years ago. Beauty From Toxicity, by Denise Hughes, was a show created entirely by upcycled plastic and displayed in Durham from Friday, June 19th to Saturday, July 11th, 2015. Hughes creates and shares her work to educate the public about our overproduction and overconsumption of plastic. She invites people to send their used plastic items to her studio instead of disposing them. That way she can use them in her mural projects and artwork while also diverting them from our landfills and waterways.
  This show was a huge inspiration because I was only a few years into my Artist journey at the time and was still exploring the possible ways to create art for a specific purpose, outside of making money. Years later, I now realize that art has been a healing exercise for me and sharing it with others helps to show how they, too can feel relief, hope, freedom, and all types of other good feelings that are often felt through painting.

  As Autumn's onset brings in lovely outdoor changes, I wanted to reflect on the fun art classes and a summer camp I was involved in over the summer. I had the wonderful opportunity to work in the art spaces of UNC-CH with middle school-students participating in Seeking The Self 2017, a summer camp hosted annually by nonprofit organizations, Hidden Voices and Blue Ribbon Mentor-Advocate (BRMA). The photos below are some highlights of my time there and the video following shows more about the camp. I'm thrilled to have participated and look forward to doing more work with Hidden Voices in the near future.

  The last time I shared photos of my Wine and Design (WnD) groups' works, I also shared the Shark Tank excitement. I know there are more cool things on the way for WnD and can't believe it's already been almost a year and a half since I started with them. Our Durham studio is down to a handful of regularly-scheduled artists and always looking for more to join the team and teach classes. We had a pretty cool regional training held at Aloft Raleigh this summer where we met WnD Corporate folks and artists from all over North Carolina. A photo from training and many more of my class captures are below. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

​  Back again with another short post to share what's new. About a week ago, I had the pleasure to be a guest alongside Artist Nate Key on Episode Nine (~54 minutes long) of Open Convo, a podcast hosted by a mutual friend, Elviria Valdaz and edited and produced by her partner, Sidney. Nate and I have been working on a number of art projects with more on the way, so it was a great time to reconnect with Sidney and Elviria and be on the show to talk about our work and upcoming events. Check it out on her site (notes below provide a quick timeline of our conversation) or SoundCloud page!

00:00 - Podcast Welcome & Gratitude from Host, Elviria, "EV" Valdaz
00:50 - Intro of Nate "The Flow" Key & Cynelsa "C y" Broderick
01:47 - EV kicks off open convo with prompt and C y starts off in response
07:11 - Flow joins the convo and tells us more about himself and his artistry​
10:31 - Were either of us involved in the recent post-Charlottesville rallies/riots (with a tangent on astrological characteristics)?
19:45 - How does the current state of society inspire us as black artists? 
23:04 - What are we trying to communicate with our art? With the state of our country, what do you feel as an individual with your talent that you have to do [or contribute] to create the change [we need]?
29:28 - What does "being creative" mean to you?
30:34 - EV explains that she asked the question about being creative because she feels that sometimes "people create solely to gain instant validation" and shares her experience related to starting a podcast. As an artist/musician, how to you keep the faith or keep it moving and pushing if/when nobody is nobody is watching?
39:24 - Flow responds to the "throwaway culture" our generation currently faces and sees in our youth; and talks about how the speed in which music gets made nowadays changes its quality.
41:17 - EV asks Flow as a musical artist, what his artistry looks like? What does he convey (visual art versus music)? HE BLESSES THE MIC WITH AN A CAPELLA SNIPPET OF HIS MUSIC IN RESPONSE!
42:45 - 'God is so real...'
47:15 - Closing remarks; social media plugging and sharing of upcoming events
​53:47 - Thanks for listening; farewell from Sidney
​
  The upcoming events mentioned in this podcast are listed below, as well as the ["Pineapple Express"] t-shirts we launched in connection to the continuation of an expanded Letters, Locks & Lyrics show. To find more information about getting your very own shirt in support of our art, visit: https://teespring.com/thepineappleexpress and click the "I still want one" button. Thanks for checking out this post and stay tuned for more to come!

First of all... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

  In the spirit of new, this post is about trying new things. Take my Sakura Gelly Roll pens-to-planner cover experiment as example number one! I've used their classic white gel pen for years (no, gel pens never went out of style- lol), but recently got pens from the metallic and the souffle lines and was waiting to try them out on something fun. What better place to test them than on a plain and boring 2017 planner cover? Only a few days in and I'm already on the mission of adding color and pazazz to year 2017. As you can see [from the photos in the gallery below], the souffle ink is transparent while it's being applied and has a solid, vibrant 3D pop once dry. I am happy with my doodle results and now love using my cute, new weekly-yearly planner. The only thing I noticed after applying on the plastic surface was scratching of the souffle ink and smearing of the metallic ink. To avoid this, I suggest covering with an archival laminate or adhere some sort of adhesive to protect your newly decorated surface!

  On to example number two! I also tried my hand at sewing apparel (by request) to start off the year. The red, brown, and yellow tank top shown in the slideshow of photos belongs to my mother. It is one of her favorite summer tops, so she wanted me to make her another one... using the bottom fabric of a dress she wasn't as crazy about. "OK, sure..." I agreed, but was terrified by the thought of completely messing it up. I did it anyway, and though I made some errors, they were either very minor or easy to undo and fix. The only way to improve your skills and build cofidence with something like this is to practice and you have to try and start somewhere in order to do that! There are several ways to sew apparel: with a pattern/kit, with a completed piece/mock up as a guide, make your own pattern design from scratch with measurements, or just freely make something on the whim/drape and pin. Easy for me, I was able to use the already made tank top as a guide. This is one of the easier methods and I show photos of my step-by-step process below.

  December 17, 2016 was a day full of ugly holiday sweaterness. See Why Designs and TYPE USA ran a third Canvas Creations at the 4020 Lounge at the Saucy Crab Restaurant in the afternoon (HUGE THANKS to everybody for coming) and by night, I was ready for my friend JaNell's (of J. Cardinal Events) '80s-themed murder mystery party.

​  The invitation to the party was the spark of motivation I needed to create the imagined demo painting for our event, which then turned into the inspiration for my ugly sweater design for the party. See the photos in the slideshow below on how I created this look, suggestions on how to make your own, and some party pictures!

  On July 8th and 9th, 2014 the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards of the US Environmental Protection Agency at Research Triangle Park, NC held a two-day Air Quality Workshop for Educators. Being a newly enrolled participant of the NC Environmental Education Certification Program (NCEECP), I registered and attended this event, which was a great experience.

  This was my first time on the EPA's RTP Campus, so I was very excited being there.  I met many teachers that traveled from near and far, as well as got the chance to network with fellow NCEECP members. We had the pleasure of eating in the Lakeside Cafe for lunch, riding the shuttle between sites, touring the LEED-NC Silver National Computer Center and several other areas of the sustainable campus. Throughout the workshop, we were given many resources to assist with teaching our various audiences about Air Quality and overall environmental issues. As if that isn't exciting enough, we also calculated our individual and household carbon footprints, participated in many hands-on activities, and even built DIY Sensors with the same kits used in the Village Green Program! Building those sensors was my favorite activity and I look forward to incorporating similar devices in an art project in the near future.

  Continuing the LEED Certified Building theme, I also visited the LEED Gold Courthouse in downtown Durham. Well, my visit was mostly forced since I received a summons in the mail for jury service, but that did not stop me from marveling at the building's "Green Facts" posted all around, sustainable designs, including green roofing and views of town from several stories up. My first jury duty experience wasn't as dreadful as people make it seem and I give a lot of credit to being able to explore such a beautifully designed building. As always, thanks for visiting and please find some photos of the courthouse in the gallery below! Au revoir!

  The coolest thing I learned about mushrooms is that some of them have teeth! I'm not much of a 'shroom eater and with it being my first time hunting for them, I joined the hike hosted by ECWA along with a group of Mycologists and students just for the sake of experiencing nature again. Our hike leaders were experts, and gave excellent direction on where to find them; "go for the mounds where you see pine needles poking out," I was told.
  While scattering through piles of leaf litter and rolling over fallen logs, my hiking partner, Melody, and I found a variety of fungi, adding to the huge selection the group collectively gathered.  Our collection included puff balls, Amanitas, Turkey tails (false or smooth, gilled, and porous) and other bracket shaped fungi.  Someone even found an animal skull.
  We learned how to ID mushrooms by looking at their caps, stems, what they are growing on and whether they had pores, gills, or spines (also called teeth).  Also, we were informed about the different types of fruiting bodies, and the mechanisms they use to spread their spores.  I was excited to find out that some of the mushrooms I found were edible (pictured above, Hedgehog or Sweet Tooth Mushroom; Hydnum repandum). I happily let Melody have them so she could cook them for dinner.
  Overall, this hike was a very educational experience and I used it again as inspiration to create new art with a street graffiti, cartoon-like style (see gallery of inspiration and the design's progress slideshow below).