Anxiety. Excitement. Joy. My story is coming out this week in ArtScope magazine, in actual print.

For me, there’s a little bit of apprehension, because I’ve only known the lived version of my life that is, I’ve become comfortable pressing onward and thru, damn the details.

When asked about my artwork, I’m hard pressed to answer. Because so much has happened in such a short time- five years, my achievements can be overwhelming, so I don’t spend time adjusting imaginary laurels. Neither do I dawdle, always my motto is onward.

Lately, I’ve been more engaged in administrative duties. With limited in-studio time, the dedication to my craft and honing my skills has presented another disability, one shared with many artists, that is a lack of affordable space.

So I’ve gone from protecting the bits and pieces of what makes me who I am, to sharing who I am in real time. It’s an odd dichotomy, making both myself- the person. and my art accessible. But I think digital archiving of my work and tactile cards are important parts of my art practice.

We all have a story, if we stop to take a moment and listen. For me, 2016 wasn’t only being diagnosed with a rare disease it was also the year that I almost lost my eyesight. My right eye had swollen and doctors didn’t know why.

*******

Special thank you to Megan Bent at Open Door Arts, and Stephanie Bissonette at VABVI for working with me. And huge kudos to Collective Futures Fund and the Andy Warhol Foundation for a Sustaining Art Practice Grant. As I convert my art to grey-scale and transform my paintings into tactile cards.

Forever grateful and I’m excited to read the upcoming issue of ArtScope magazine.

#art #rareartist #soloexhibition #artexhibition #SOL🥰#accessibility

#contemporaryart #artistssupportartists   #accessibility #artcommunity #kunst  #bostonart #artcreatescommunity #arte #bostonartist 

#artaccessibility #domoregood

So this happened…

I’m a 2025 National Rare Artist Awardee!!! Yes, it feels good 🥰. If you voted, thank you 💯

What does being a National Rare Artist mean?

It means that I’ll be able to advocate for people, who like me, are living with a rare disease.  

I’ll get to tell my story to foster more awareness, which will hopefully lead to more funding, more research and better health outcomes.  I’m very excited about this part of my art journey because it directly helps people.  

In a digital world that’s spinning incredibly fast, art makes us stop, makes us pause and look at one another.  Keep shining your light, even from way over here, I see you 🥰

“In Someone Else’s Shoes” the viewer is asked to see what someone feels. We’re reminded that we’re more alike than we are different. In that way, empathy and compassion makes us feel good.

Having a rare disease can be like standing in a room full of people and feeling alone. For me, and many like me our rare disease is invisible, that is you won’t see it, but we know it’s there… we feel it, because it’s always there, lurking inside us.

Like wearing shoes that are way too big, you can’t outrun your rare disease and it’s challenging, nearly impossible to navigate the world of medicine alone, without policy change and legislation.
#sol 🙂

Gratitude 🙏❤️ @rare.artist @rare_advocates @everylifeorg You are appreciated

#raredisease #rarediseaseawareness #granulomatosiswithpolyangiitis #art #arte #artcreatescommunity #kunst #artistssupportartists

People milling about, smiling. Looking at the exhibits and secretly waiting for the awards. I could sense the anticipation in the audience, but not me. I wasn’t there to get an award, I was there to look at amazing art and to watch these amazingly talented artists who had been selected from 720 submissions, look at art. And I was just thrilled to be included.

Standing there sipping my preferred cocktail “neat” with Ben and his beer. We were listening to well deserved praise, these people who had gathered to celebrate art. It was simply fabulous!

I clapped excitedly when a nearby artist’s name was called, and then another name, a young man, an emerging artist! I didn’t know him, but I was so proud of him. We all were.

I took it all in. Here I was up in New Hampshire inside a huge, vibrant space filled with amazing art. Whew! What a view. And as the executive director spoke, the anticipation in the audience grew, and I was listening to every single word that was spoken, every single word and then I heard my name and I dropped.

Ben said “that’s you, they said your name”. But I wouldn’t get up. And he said that I had to go up there, but I stayed down there for a moment longer…. And I was crying when I walked up there to receive my award…#BestinShow

I wish my Mum could’ve been with me or my darling Sis DeMane Davis . So happy that Ben was here. I hugged everyone, because hugs keep me from crying.

I was overjoyed. I’m overjoyed still. And I’m sooooo grateful. I’ll share more tomorrow.

Thank you 🙏 ❤️ Bruce McColl New Hampshire Art Association Amanda Kidd-Kestler Jimmy’s Jazz & Blues Club

#SOL Yup, that sound you heard, that was me 🥰

peopleneedpeople #art #groupexhibition #awards #arte #kunst #artistssupportsartists

UPDATE… Lately my art journey has included fraud. That’s right, my unique one of a kind, copyright protected painting is being used in a scam.

Whew! LinkedIn, Instagram Fam, it’s a lot. By the way, this doesn’t personally impact me. In fact, like the Mona Lisa being stolen from the Lourve, all this attention may be adding value to the painting. I doubt it, but what if…

So, if you’ve been following, i’ve been questioning Cloudflare ‘s security. Letting them know that we should have zero trust in their claims to make the internet better.

Well, I was wrong. Come to find out they’re not the host of the fraud website! But here’s the ethical bit, they are the portal that the hosting company provides for the scammy website. Clutch my pearls!

Exactly. So while I can’t completely excuse Cloudflare, I do extend them an apology. Sorry.

Now that I understand the hosting company is Virtual Systems , I’ve asked them to #ceaseanddesist and to have their client take my unique, copyrighted painting off their scammy websites, which has increased since I’ve started asking them to take it down.
These ⤵️

sellogiamk.clic k

goodguanvs.clic k

lploverar.bes t

Just to be clear, even though Cloudflare Area 1 Security isn’t the host, they are providing a portal, that is a way to do the dirty deed smh.

In the photo at the top of this page, the painting on the right is my unique, copyrighted painting that is authorized on my Artsy webpage (where it was illegally copied from) and on the left is Virtual Systems clients’ fraudulent website with its scam activity.

I could walk away, but why would I? If it were you. What would you do?

Whew! For a lot of reasons, this one is special y’all. The fact that I’m sharing an incomplete piece of artwork, is itself a little out of character for me. But what’s more exciting, is that this is my third public art piece. And what’s even more exciting than that, it’s all been 3D! Wait… what?

Yes, this painting on stretched canvas is a small mockup of a bigger piece. Not a mural, but a 3D artwork and I’m literally over the moon!

Five months ago, I was in Denver, CO being told that I was a 2D artist and not likely to move forward in a 3D competition, but I did make it to the last round becoming 1 of 5 finalists to be seriously considered.

After my presentation, one of the panelist who had been a nay-sayer came over and congratulated me, saying she was impressed that a woman who made 2D art had transitioned to making 3D art.

And I thanked her, but never fully made her understand, that I was able to make 3D art, because I had never been told that I couldn’t. That’s the thing, never having grown up being told that I couldn’t, allowed me the grace of ignorance, that is I didn’t know and I suppose, it never occurred to me that I couldn’t transition and so I did. Imagine that. Imagine if we removed words like cannot and can’t from our vocabulary.

Anyway, I didn’t win that contract. But the experience had a marvelous impact on me, and when another opportunity presented itself, I submitted my work and here we are!

“Hair tossed. Check my nails” Life is like that.

My 3D public art will be completed and on view come June. Of course, I’ll share when and where. It’s titled:

“Joining in. Tickling the Keys of Life”
I’m excited to see how it plays #SOL 🥰

art #publicart #contemporaryart #artistssupportartists #kunst #3DArt #artcreatescommunity #arte

Real Talk… I’ve been quick to share the good parts of my art journey, because it’s inspiring & in a digital world that’s spinning incredibly fast, we need #goodnews

But rejections do happen.  And yesterday, like so many other days, I received another email stating that I was “not one of the artist selected”.  And just like that, darkness crept over me.

None of us is immune to it.  But I knew that I had a First Friday to attend and that I needed to be on, smiling, and being supportive of artists’ work @tagtheartgallery @sowaboston 

So I went.  And as usual, I had a marvelous time, completely forgetting that day’s email and when I returned home, I dropped the mask on the floor and was sad again. 

I was sad about everything, the world, this administration, its chaos… But here’s the thing, it’s ok to be sad.  It’s ok to be angry, to be disappointed… those feelings keep us alive.  It’s what motivates us, nudging us along, the mojo to wake up and to try again.  To move forward.  

So this morning, I woke up and wrote thank you letters.   I thanked the director of the call, thanked the engineers, architects and people I’d met, that I never got to work with, I let them know that they are appreciated, because right now we all need to be kind. 

I feel sad right now, but I’m also incredibly hopeful, because someone like me, was able to connect with them and that’s an amazing thing to have happen.

Thank you for everyone who makes art, who supports artists and the communities.  For those individuals who took time to congratulate me last night, hug me and show me love- Thank you!  Thank you for being supportive of my work, on what has been an incredible leg of my art journey.

Two vastly different events happened to me this week, from the governor of Massachusetts awarding me a citation for my artwork, to receiving another rejection of my artwork… both valid reminders that I’m still here.

I know the world needs public art, more so now, than ever before.  So, let’s keep at it.  Let’s keep smiling.  Keep pushing. Onward 🙏❤️

#art #groupexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #artistssupportartists   #artcommunity #kunst  #artcreatescommunity #arte

Amazingly, my painting “Pink Rollers and Lottery Dreams” was selected by the  Massachusetts Governor to be installed in her reception area at the Statehouse. Wait… what??

Tomorrow, Weds. Feb. 5th, Governor Healey will unveil my artwork, along with three other artists at a Black History Month Celebration in the Great Hall of Flags.

How cool is that?  Very 😎 

And… please visit an art gallery near you.  Go see art.  Sit with it, be inspired.  If you’re in the Boston area visit SoWa art district! 

Art is so important during these times, because it offers community, it offers hopefulness and encourages kindness & compassion.  So necessary to counter-balance negativity.

Three of my paintings are also showing at two galleries:

New England Art Collective XV at the Galatea Fine Art Gallery exhibition 450 Harrison Ave

“Blueprint of Imagination” 

and 

The TAG Gallery at the NEAC. 460c Harrison Ave.

“The Alchemy of Art and Play”

I’m so honored. Thank you 🙏 ❤️ For connecting with me. #SOL @massgovernor @masscultural @fiksclaudia 💕

This work is as created during my fellowship residency @massmoca @assets4artists Gratitude 🙏 🥰

#blackhistorymonth #art #onlineexhibition #groupexhibition #artexhibition #contemporaryart #artistssupportartists  #artcommunity #kunst  #artcreatescommunity #arte

Hello 2025!

I don’t do New Year’s Resolutions, but it’s nice to meet you. I can’t remember the last time I put myself through the vigors of a promise that was so hard to keep, or why I wanted to do that to myself in the first place. Perhaps, I’ve grown wiser or perhaps, I’m too old and less agile. At any rate, I no longer want to waste my energy on jumping through hoops or straining to reach a bar that’s just too damn high.

It’s not that I don’t like bringing the New Year in with good cheer, I just prefer it without grand announcements. The added pressure of sharing a weakness with others, who will then gauge the rate of success by asking me “how’s it going?” throughout the year, doesn’t appeal to me. And as quiet as its kept, I don’t particularly want to keep an eye on someone else’s New Year’s Resolution, so I’m quite good if no one shares theirs with me.

It’s 2025 and I don’t care what others think of my my body or my looks. I’ve grown accustomed to minding my own business and to keeping my opinions to myself. In other words, I tolerate others, and show grace and kindness by embracing our differences. I appreciate diversity, I’m inclusive and strive for equality. When we get along, finding beauty in the world is easy.

I accept others, as I accept myself. It’s been a journey, but I finally got to this place where I’m comfortable. I don’t have a lot of vices, and those that I do have, don’t make me a menace to society.

To some people, I’ve grown boring, that is I can’t drink as much, I don’t go out every weekend and I can’t stay up as late. But, I’m here. Still smiling out loud. Can you hear me? #SOL 🥰

Hello gorgeous ❤️

#Hello2025 #HappyNewYear #HappyNewYear2025

Making connections that we hadn’t even thought to imagine and it’s working! Imagine that…

Staying agile and being creative, sometimes means venturing into new spaces, and seeing the world in a new way. That in order to move forward, we might be required to let go, leaving old thoughts, outmoded behaviors and cracked people behind. It’s not always easy, but neither is staying.

And so we must find the strength to release ourselves from the past, so that we can move forward. And we must stop checking the rear view mirror, because honestly, the future isn’t stuck in the past, we are… it’s time to separate ourselves & move onward.

Slow & steady now. See you over there.

👁👁 #BlueSky #socialmedia #growth

Lately I’ve been listening to folk music 🎶 It started when I was invited to a dear friend’s home for a party and they had hired Anne Hills to perform. And I was blown away!

There’s something about the human voice, when accompanied to guitar strings that resonates with me. Literally. I’m able to think, when I’m not being jarred by percussions and heavy base notes. There’s a subtleness that’s not invasive. I can be in the studio, immersed in my painting’s brushstrokes, being there and somehow miss the entire song!

And then, as if gently awakened, I realize that I missed the entire chorus line! Which if you know me, is the only part of the song that I can remember to sing along. So then I must stop painting and replay the song, because I want to hear it and sing. So I hit repeat, the intro to the song begins to play, and I start painting and the song ends again, without me chiming in, because I’ve done it again. I’ve missed the chorus of the song!

I find it entertaining, humorous even that I can be so deeply engrossed in my work, that my ear refuses to do it’s job, to hear. Usually during my slow days, the in between days of not being able to be outdoors and wanting to be out and a about.

Next year will be different, for the first time I’m booked up. I’m not looking at my schedule because it’ll overwhelm me, but I’m happy because being busy means I won’t be bored. Being busy means I’m well, and that’s a good thing.

Because it translates into painting, which means I’m listening to music. And lately I’ve been enraptured by folk music.

Today it will be Labi Siffre, last night it was Joan Armatrading, Jodi Mitchell and yesterday, well I already told you, yesterday was Anne Hills.

Who has written to me, more than ance! Her letters begin “Oh my Dee” and just like that, my breath is taken away, she caught my heart. And I’m reminded just how much human connection matters, her music soothes me. And then, there I am “smiling as tears go by”.

SOL🥰

#art #contemporaryart #artistssupportartists #artcommunity #kunst #bostonartists #artcreatescommunity