Raw amber from Mali strung on leather.

Cannot believe that I was able to make the beads into a bracelet.

Next time, I want to try something more intricate with competing textures. Am I really sitting here talking about beading? Is this real life…

I’m pretty excited that I got 100% on this watercolor piece for my class.

I CANNOT draw to save my life but I think I’m getting better as this class progresses. And watercolor painting is not the cake walk that I though it would be!

Just 3 more week! 3 more weeks!!!

This morning, I was working from home and just thinking about STUFF. I’m not sure where my mood was but I think I was feeling OK. Just OK.

Then out of the clear blue, my aunt sends me a random text message that said “Three Times a Lady” and attached was a photo of my grandmother whom everyone called Mommie.

After seeing Mommie’s photo, I felt energized. Happy. Inspired. Reminiscent.

Mommie always made me laugh, always told me that I was the best & always beat my ass when I got out of line.

Mommie was and still is everything in my life. She is the center of my creative world. She is my MUSE!

After class this evening, I was walking back to my car when I spotted a cheery tree in full bloom. The pink was vibrant and inviting so I decided to walk over to admire its springtime charm.

As I stood there in wonderment, I got a whiff of something sweet and perfume heavy. It was a magnolia tree standing nearby like a woman in all of her glory and bounty.

I LOVE the scent of magnolias and today, this perfume swept away all of my troubles.

When I saw this new typeface mockup by Senongo Akpem, I got so hype. The colors, the textures and the colors again….

“Over the course of a few weeks in January and February, I created a hand-made typeface using Mixel, a new collage app. The app lets you re-use and even re-crop any piece from any other users collage, which gave me literally hundreds of images to work from that I could alter in any way I chose.

I tried to use as many images as possible to make the letters free-flowing. Some are a bit more complex than others but I tried to get them all to look like cohesive letterforms. ~  Senongo Akpem

The letters have been featured on Behance, Quipsologies, and the Mixel Blog.”

If you believe in stars & once upon a time, then you will love this.

“What you see is real, but you can’t see it this way with the naked eye. It is the result of thousands of 20-30 second exposures, edited together to produce the timelapse. This allows you to see the Milky Way, Aurora and other Phenonmena, in a way you wouldn’t normally see them.”Randy Halverson

There is a magic moment at :53 & 2:17 so watch closely.

Many of my photographer friends have done or attempted to do a 365 project. Oh, a 365 project is where you do a photo a day. Sometimes, the project may entail a self-portrait once a day.

I could never take this on because; I’m just too lazy & can’t commit to anything long term. I just can’t!

When I learned about Jeff Harris’ photo a day project that has been up & running since 1999 I said WOW…

When I saw the photos, I was intrigued. Actually fascinated.

Have a look yourself to see what I’m talking about. Be warned, there are a few shocking images in the slideshow from his bout with cancer (neurofibrosarcoma).

On a related note, some of the backstory on Jeff;’s cancer battle can be read about here…

Last night was the art show & reception that I have only been talking about for the last several weeks.

In a nutshell, everything was perfect! Many of my friends came out to show love & support, I met some great new people & I was able to talk about my art and share my passion through the theme of Black Women and Food.

When Olivia & I finished hanging the work last Thursday, I took a step back and felt very proud of the presentation. Prints on metallic paper, great custom framing and vivid color really gave me what I wanted.

The event lasted for about three hours but it felt like only 15 minutes. I was in a time vacuum with my new church shoes on…

I could easily say that the highlight of the night was selling 5 pieces of art off of the walls but it was not the highlight. The highlight for me was having my people there to support me, the art and the community of Detroit area photographers. Now of course, I am looking at my sales receipts and smiling like a mofo! I’m just saying.

Another fine highlight from last night other than me looking like a million dollars in my Versace was that someone purchased one of my BEST photos ever, “The Giver” (pictured above). I’m looking forward to installing it next Saturday…….

This photo has been looking for the right home for a while now. So happy that the right person decided to make that move.

As soon as I have photos from the event courtesy of my official unofficial photographer, L O T I, I will post them….

Thanks for hanging in there with me my friends!!!

Tafari

As I sit here writing this, I am being eaten alive by mosquitos because I cannot find my Off & I don’t want to go inside. The evening late summer air is feeling too good but I’m going to suffer later.

Wait, I’m back and I found the Off.

Anyhow…. Today, I completed the first portion of my summer photo project that I first mentioned here.

I wasn’t sure how taking the photographs would go for me but I found it to be intense to say the least from an emotional standpoint.

The last photo taken today was bitter sweet. I was happy to have satisfied this portion of the project but it was sad to see the state of the final house, or rather lack of an existing house.

Tuesday, I’m having the film processed then I’ll start assembling the accompanying short stories.

And I still need to find a title for the project. I’ve been thinking about this pretty hard… Stay tuned…..

Photo Credit: Michael LaCombe

Most if not all of my friends in and around Detroit have a hustle or two or three or four.  I have two aside from my main thing cause I need to be able to support my shopping habits.

The other day, I was talking to Cousin Dee who was telling me about her new hustle and all I could do was laugh. I laughed because she always has like 3 or 4 hustles floating at one time & she is always working the hell out of them. I swear I don’t know how she does them.

When I say hustle, of course I am talking about something legal, well mostly. We all have that one friend who operates on the dark side.

I think as Detroiters, we, collectively are proud to be able to start something that makes cash and move on because we can. And it is always nice when a hustle can turn into a business, kind of like my photography.

With this said, I am going on record for saying that I am so sick & tired of that damn Chrysler/Eminem commercial. OK, we get it. Now stop preaching to the choir bitches.

On a final Detroit note; tomorrow I’m starting a new photography project in Detroit that is autobiographical in nature.  Basically, I will be photographing each home that I lived in over a 13 year period during my youth. There are at least 11 homes in all.

Yep, we moved a helluva lot. Gypsies for various reasons.

Some of the homes are no longer standing, some are dilapidated, some are now fancy condos. Strange how things change in time.

No matter the present condition, each home has a story to tell. Some funny, some sad and fucked up. Many of the stories that I will tell as part of this project have not been discussed outside of my home so I talked about this with my mother beforehand. I just didn’t want to put family business out in the streets like that.

In a few ways I see this project as part of some type of therapy. Maybe even a healing process, so I’m excited to see what happens.

In other news: I am starting a new photo project that is autobiographical in nature based on my living experience in Detroit. When I started mapping out my process, I got a little emotional flashing back through the years.

Before I start the project, I have to get my mothers permission because it will tell a little family business. And…… you know that you are not supposed to put family business in the street.

One of the cool things about being accredited media at Mercedes Benz Fashion week is that you get info on a lot of parties, events & cool swag type things that surround the event.

From about two weeks prior until then end of MBFW, you are literally bombarded with information from PR reps. I thought my iPhone was going to explode at points.

This time around, one of the cooler things that I was made aware of  was the opportunity to get sketched by a student artist from Parsons The New School For Design at the W Hotel Union Sq. I was actually quite excited about it and had planned my afternoon around it and a fabulous lunch at one of my favorite spots (yes, I said fabulous). So after picking up my MBFW credentials and running errands, I made my way to the W.

Luckily, I was second in line so the wait was minimum but it was refreshing to sit after hours of being on the move in the NYC streets. So nice to recharge my body & phone. Especially my phone!

The sketch artist of the day was Chelsey Pettyjohn who seemed to work effortlessly while doing her first sketch as she chatted. When she was done with the first subject, I grew more excited. I was really digging her whimsical portrait style.

Now I’m in the chair where Chelsey & I hit it off immediately. For the entire time that I posed, we talked none stop about art, living in NYC, growing up in the Midwest & working during MBFW. It was like we made fast friends. I tend to do that a lot with random people anyway. I love to talk and explore.

At one point midway, I paused and told Chelsey to make sure that I looked refined and gentlemanly. She assured that she had me, then we continued chopping it up.

Once she was done, she turned the portrait toward me and I did a little bitch scream in my head. I loved it! If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you saw it there first.

After, I bagged up my new piece of art, I hit the streets for a few more errands and ended the day at my Sip & See with friends.

On a somewhat related note, the photo above is my latest addition to my NYC Analog Street Portrait series, which can be seen here.