So before I consign myself to a fun day of doing my taxes (note massive sarcasm when I say “fun”) and other stuff that I have been putting off for most of the winter, I thought I’d share some fan photos. Frank bought a few photography prints and wanted to share what they looked like framed. I’m really impressed with the way they look in the black frames so kudos to him for hooking them up and making them look so cool. Cheers!
photo courtesy of Frank Alvarenga
photo courtesy of Frank Alvarenga
© Kelly Saadiq
Don’t you wish you could be sitting next to this bird as it takes in the warm, beautiful tropical rain of Dominica in the late Spring? I know I do. This lovely shot was taken by Kelly Saadiq on her honeymoon last year. I thought I’d share this picture since this weekend marks Kelly and Charles’ one-year wedding anniversary. All the best to you, Saadiqs!
You can see more of Kelly’s photography by visiting her Flickr stream here.
© Jaimee Todd
This is the sketch for my latest painting tentatively titled Yemoja, the mother orisha who is represented by the ocean, lakes and rivers. This piece will be part of a series that I plan on doing about the Orishas with particular emphasis on the female Orishas.
I first became acquainted with the Yoruba religion when I was studying the African Disapora in Latin America in college. I was fascinated by how the principles of Yoruba thrived in Cuba, Brazil and beyond and paticularly by how the slaves were able to perserve important aspects of their religion by merging aspects of Yoruba with Catholicism.
I knew a while ago that I wanted to do Yemoja (also known as Yemayá in Santería) but wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to go about it. Interestingly, when I finished Medea, two of my friends, one of whom practices Santeria while the other is Yoruba, thought it was Yemoja. I guess this speaks to the universality of powerful, complex women. But this time, after doing some research and playing around with different ideas, I decided to go with this depiction of her.
Today I plan on working on a color scheme and once I have that down pat, I’ll do the final piece on a larger scale, probably 26″x40″. I’ll be share my progress as I go along!
So here are more of my pictures that I took with the lens filter. I’m still getting a hang of the stting on some of the shots so some are fuzzier than I would like but it’s a work in progress. I also uploaded a new slideshow feature on the blog. I’m testing out new programs to possibly add to my portfolio.
[random max=Close-ups]
©Jaimee Todd
This shot was taken with the fun, new macro lens filter I bought for Lulu. Who would’ve thought such a neat little gizmo could make a simple house plant look so interesting? Lulu is having a ball with her new toy so please stay tuned.
©Paul Lambermont
My friend and fellow artist Paul Lambermont creates beautiful artbooks fileld with his sketches, ideas and observations that are beautifully rendered as paintings and energetic drawings. Paul likes to organize his sketchbooks around a theme and this time it’s all about torsoes.
© Paul Lambermont
What I love the most about the art books is that it combines the written word with imagery, a relationship that Paul likes to explore and was the predominant theme in the last group show that he curated called Twelve Lives in Queens County: A Collaborative Zine.
See more of Paul’s work by visiting his site!
© Jaimee Todd
Things have really picked up on my end, hence my blogging has and will be somewhat sporadic. I am in no way complaining since the reason for my busy-ness is a gateway to more opportunities for my art. I love being busy and nothing excites me more than planning a new project or art piece. In this case I’m looking to do quite a few, which will require me to change course from the inkblots, but only temporarily. I’m looking forward to revisiting those again.
In the meantime, I’m doing cultural research for my upcoming series. One thing I love about doing background research behind the history of an image that I’m depicting is that it’s a great opportunity to expand your knowledge about different things. It deepens the process of creating because it’s transformed into an educational experience that you ultimately pass on to the audience.
I hate to be all cloak and dagger about it for now, but I dont’t want to spoil things. Just wanted to share that I’m plugging away at something that I’m pretty geeked about. More to come!
My Friday just got a lot sweeter. One of my favorite bloggers, Alyson Stanfield, featured my painting Medea on her Art Biz Blog today! Today’s post is about using catchy, descriptive words to really sell your art. Check it out here!
image courtesy of Introvert Images LLC
This week’s MOZ is courtesy of Charles Saadiq. Charles’ is known for taking everyday objects and transforming them into a totally new sensory experience or as he explains it: “I appreciate the power of manipulation so I try to extend my creativity to bring life to lines, tones, shadows and shapes that often go unrecognized. I even find beauty in darkness”.
For his photo entitled Emerald City, Charles explains his approach:
“In ‘Emerald City’ I stitched five photographs together to give a fish-eye lens effect. This image exemplifies how art is infinite. I tend to be patient and wait for nature to provide shadows in certain areas. By focusing on lines and angles, I wanted ‘Emerald City’ to be something beyond a predictable city landscape photograph.”
You can see more of Charles’ photography by visiting his online portfolio.
This past weekend, AJ and I decided to check out the Harlem Fine Arts Show. An extension of the Black Fine Arts Show, HFAS is an annual event where black artists from all over the country display and sell their works in a variety of mediums. I didn’t get a chance to make it out last year so I was pretty eager to see what the show had to offer.
I was mostly interested in going to the event not just for the chance to soak up some artistic inspiration, but also to take the time to talk to artists about their craft and learn more about the business of art. I first ran into Najee Dorsey, a well-known mixed media artist and founder of the Black Arts In America website. It was nice to finally meet him and person and see his work up close. After telling me about his process when it came to creating many of his works, I got a chance to ask him about what I could do to expand my art career. He was happy to explain that one of the most important things to do as an artist was to produce, produce, produce. Doing so shows people that you are serious about your craft.
Dorsey also mentioned how it was a good idea to get involved in art fairs and festivals because it’s a unique opportunity for artists to connect wtih their audiences and see for themselves how people react to their work. I’ve never done an art festival before but it is something I definitely want to do in the near future. Continue reading »
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