When I reached out to Brenda Miller Holmes years ago to inquire about getting involved in her project as a volunteer, I never imagined what would come with it or after. I shared a couple of posts in the past that touched on the Durham Civil Rights History Mural Project, one in July 2014 and the other in September 2014. This year, Myra Weise received an Arts About grant from Downtown Durham, Inc. (DDI) to fund a performance event inspired by the mural. Originally, she wanted to have Brenda create the temporary ground work, but being the equity-conscious person she is, Brenda suggested getting another artist involved and recommended me. At first, I wasn't sure if I could deliver what Myra envisioned, but I got more and more excited after meeting with her, getting an overview of the event, and sketching some ideas out on paper. We even met one weekend for a photo shoot to get images for promotional material (pictured below and also taken by Zoe Litaker Photography).

 On the day of the event, Myra was busy going through a super long list of logistical tasks that included things like picking up road barricades and chairs and dropping those off along with supplies and setting up, etc. I arrived on site a little after 10 a.m. and began to mark up the parking lot. The goal was for me to lay out the design in the mock up shown that would both serve as a place the community could color in for a couple of hours before the performance as well as the stage space for the dancers to perform within.
  Time flew as I started installing the stage's border. I quickly went through a number of the chalk spray paint cans and began to improvise when I was running out. In the home stretch, one of the men featured in the mural stopped by... Walter Riley, who was in town visiting due to a National Lawyer Guild's convention on civil rights (he's an Attorney who's done incredible work; look him up!). We talked for a while and I learned that he, too, is an artist and paints often with oils.
  All in all, it was a great experience. I wrapped up and went to work, and when I finished my shift, I came back to see bits of the performance and to check out Derrick Beasley's exhibition inside of the Durham Arts Council building. Some photos from behind the scenes are in the slideshow below as well as two brochures that were handed out during the event that share more information about the mural itself. Thanks for much for reading, and as always... feel free to leave  a comment or two!

  Oh, how the change of seasons forces me to be so contemplative! The cooling, crisp air all around and old, crunchy leaves on the ground make me think about the newness on the way. The dread of the upcoming holidays hit me, yet I also feel appreciative of the natural scenic makeovers. Every year, the outdoor transformations cause me reflect on the good things the warm season brought.
  This summer marked another year spent with kids participating in Hidden Voices' and Blue Ribbon's Seeking the Self camp; Year Three. You may remember my recap posts in 2018 and 2017-- well, the team was able to come back once again, which is not something I take for granted at all. The fact that camp took place this year after coming close to not happening at all due to major changes in organizational structure and funding alone was something I was happy about. Thankfully, the third time was a charm. For the second time, I also joined TPPI/APPP's graduation celebration for a round of painting fun (group photo pictured above). The last time I did that was for their 2017 group (and I wrote about it here).
  Below, I share more photos, a video, and summer memories related to Seeking The Self 2019.

  The video below shows an overview of this year's STS Program.

  The growth I got to witness in these kids during STS was super rewarding. As we worked with the students this summer, sharing other Artists' work and interpretations, I heard Will describe some of his work in a way I never experienced it before. I was inspired instantly. I wanted to try to replicate it his portrait style. I wanted to find out more. I got to see how many times he shared images of people with themselves as their own "twin" via his social media, and about how long he's been doing that. What I heard him say for the first time was that these portraits  were all about love. Self love. The series was an investigation of what that self love look like. Below are some images he has shared in the past with one of my own following. Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed; and please leave any questions or comments below if you have any!

  Summer is a busy time for an Artist that's involved in camps. As the time for longer and warmer days end each year, I get a little nostalgic and reflect on all of the great things the season brought. This year I returned to Hidden Voices and Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocate's Seeking The Self (STS) Camp as an Assistant Art Instructor and also joined SEEDS' Summer Camp as a Guest Teacher to [finally] complete my North Carolina Environmental Education Certification Program's Community Partnership Project. Working with the kids lesson-by-lesson to come up with a concept for a mural we designed together and began painting was a challenge, but very rewarding. I met many talented young artists and it was a pleasure to teach them some of the basics of art and design. Photos from SEEDS' Camp directly follow. Read on for more about STS Camp after that!

  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!

   I am throwing it back on this Thursday to discuss the Annual Heritage Film Festival that occurred at the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham, NC over a three-day span in February.  This year's festival was the center's 23rd annual and showed films relating to the themes: Blaxploitation; Social Justice and Our Legacy; Afrofuturism and Science Fiction; and Community.
  I learned about the festival through Sherri Holmes of Triangle Friends of African American Arts (TFAAA) while mixing and mingling at the Triangle Art Works' 3rd Annual SMASH event. The main reason she specifically shared information about the festival with me was because it 1) wasn't very highly publicized, and 2) would be showing the premiere screening of Living Colors- the Durham Civil Rights History Mural Project Documentary. Last week, the filmmaker, Rodrigo Dorfman, announced that the documentary can now also be streamed online; so if interested, please watch it here on Vimeo!
  Almost 20 long and short films were shown and I watched every last one of them (some from home and some [bolded on list] at Hayti)! These films included:

  What a jammed-packed Labor Day Weekend (LDW) with friends and family - FRAMILY! My cousin, Shadlyn, spent her vacation paying me a visit, so I tried to make sure we had a good balance of things to do. It was a great time hosting and showing her pieces of my life while also venturing out to enjoy other parts of North Carolina. This post will be a complete recap of our weekend, starting with Sunday (the day before she headed back to Baltimore).

  We slept in and did not make it to our scheduled morning church service or community yoga session, but the sleep was very needed. When we finally rolled out of bed, we fixed breakfast and watched 21 Jump Street (I'll only say "I've seen better"). A little after noon, I pulled out a blouse that urgently needed to be stitched, so I did that quickly and we got ready and were off to the Durham Civil Rights History Mural (DCRHM) Project wall. Shadlyn had expressed to me prior that she was upset I signed her up to paint, but I found it necessary that we put in a few volunteer hours in our schedule. In the end, she said that she had a great time helping out on a mural for the first time. Below, find some flicks in the slideshow of the site's progress!
  We headed straight to my sister's house to visit her family afterwards. They had fried rice, peppered cajun seafood, and drinks waiting for us. SCORE! While there, my brother in law ran out to buy some fruit that I agreed to help him carve into a "wagon". More visitors came and we had a great time bonding with each other. It wasn't until close to midnight when we headed back home to get some rest. We all had a splendid time and I'm glad we convinced Shadlyn not to hit the road until early Monday morning. It's a blessing to be people rich.

  This weekend, I was ecstatic to open my first art exhibition, which is now on display at Arts Manifold (7406-K Chapel Hill Road, Raleigh, NC 27607).

::Flashback to February::
  I posted in February of 2013 about an Arts Entrepreneurs' Conference at UNCG that I was considering going to. However, I did not make it to the conference then, but this past February I registered and drove out to Greensboro, NC to attend this year. You can check out the social media feed using #SEAC2014. Anyway, the conference was very helpful and a great place for all kinds of artists to network. This is how my current art show got its wings.
  I met Nicole Canty, Abstract and Experimental Artist and Owner of Arts Manifold at SEAC 2014. We exchanged information and as she was looking for artists to exhibit in her space, I found it to be a great opportunity and followed up with her about it.
  Friday, March 28th was our opening Reception date for my show, but we have another reception being planned due to a lower turn out than expected. Below, please find two pieces that are on display, "The Drum That Spoke" and "Instant Message" along with my Artist Statement for the show and a short picture slideshow. During the reception, I got a chance to explain the inspiration and meanings behind each of the seven acrylic paintings being displayed. Stay tuned for more information about the show or visit www.artsmanifold.com for more information.

  I had the opportunity to check out the artwork of self-taught Artist Francis "F.A." Sonnie this weekend. He is based in Sierra Leone, but that does not stop the international travels of his collection of village paintings. More than 25 of his lively acrylic on canvass paintings are here in North Carolina for an exhibit being held at The Palace International (1104 Broad Street Durham, NC 27705) November 4, 2013 through January 6, 2014. There are a variety of sizes to choose from and donations will benefit Africa Yes!, a nonprofit funding women and community projects in Gbeworbu, Sierra Leone. The slideshow below shows a peek of some of the art. Visit it in person during The Palace International's regular business hours (closed on Mondays) or feel free to join the Opening Reception in a few weeks: Monday, Dec. 2nd,  5:30-7:30p.m.

I'm back after a little creation hiatus, which was the result of attending a mini-conference a couple months ago. It was the Creative Entrepreneur Expo held at the Durham Arts Council (DAC) on May 16, 2013.  My intention by going to this expo was for inspiration, but I did not expect it to have an opposite effect on me. The two speakers you see pictured above shed some great knowledge and helpful tips for creatives. The number one tip I took to heart was, "If the process you are using is working for you, then great." That is... if it is getting you clients that are satisfied when you deliver their work and growing business, keep at it! "If it's not, PIVOT!"