About: I was born in Berkeley, CA. and raised in Oakland, CA. My uncle did art projects with me as a child and I was good with math. I was introduced to drafting, so I applied to U.C. Berkeley and graduated with a Masters Degree in Architecture. Now, I am a retiree from The Port of Oakland. While working at The Port of Oakland, it was suggested that I take some graphic design courses. That opened another door. Now I do some freelance work.
During my free time, I do ceramics and work with bamboo. I refer to my ceramics as “clay babies” and my bamboo art as “Ancestral Poles”. The ancestral poles can tell a story or be decorative. I am honored that my ceramics were published in Essence Magazine and San Francisco Business Times to name a few. And some of my work is in the private collections of Susan Taylor and Jill Scott.
We all feel something when we view art. It can range from feeling love, peace, racial issues, empowerment… Each piece has been inspired by someone or some event in my life. I try to translate that feeling, that experience into a visual for all to enjoy. My hope is that you feel it. This is my gift to you. From my spirit to yours.
About: “I go into a trance and create something beautiful”
I believe I was born to create, and for the past 15 years painting has been my passion.
Acrylic abstracts on canvas is my preference. I find my inspiration in nature, architecture, everyday objects and life itself. Sometimes there’s a specific image I want to create, other times I let the feeling take me wherever it wants to go. I love using bright colors, but also allow the piece itself to decide. Each piece has its own personality and energy.
I am honored to collaborate with some of the most talented artists in the Bay Area as part of the Art of the African Diaspora 2021.
More info: This link showcases my most recent work and gallery partnerships. You may contact me directly for promotional pricing specifically for the AOTAD exhibitions.
About: I create abstract figurative paintings using oil paints. I learned drawing and painting through classes at local community centers and online courses. While my work has been mostly portraiture and figurative, lately, I have been incorporating more abstraction. Currently, I am working on a series of figures (tentatively titled All Ways) to explore layers of emotion as a Black woman in predominantly white spaces. I have been comforted by poets and writers such as Audre Lorde and Lucille Clifton, and their words and love for Black women have inspired this series.
More info: This first image is part of my All Ways series. This series is a work in progress and explores themes like strength and vulnerability, loneliness and empowerment.
The second image is titled Daddy’s Jazz. I created this piece based on an image of John Coltrane as a commission. It is in a private collection.
About: Ashara Ekundayo is an independent curator, artist, creative industries entrepreneur and organizer working internationally across cultural, spiritual, civic, and social innovation spaces. Her intersectional worldview offers both an Afrofuturist and radical Black feminist framework to the public sector by centering the lives, traditions, and expertise of Black womxn of the African Diaspora.
As a social practice installation artist who designs site-specific commissioned altar pieces, documents justice uprisings, stewards public meditation ceremonies, and designs public printmaking sessions, Ashara’s works are intentionally collaborative, interdisciplinary, and intergenerational. Additionally, as an art buyer/advisor and gallerist, she has supported emerging and well-established artists and founded Omi Arts Project Space (2012-2017) inside her company Impact Hub Oakland, and the Ashara Ekundayo Gallery (2017-2019) which was celebrated as the only commercial gallery in the USA exclusively dedicated to the exhibition of work of Black womxn and femmes.
Currently, Ashara serves as Chief Creative Catalyst at the Bay Area Girls & Womxn of Color Collaborative and sits on the Advisory Board of the Oakland Public Conservatory of Music and the Regional Advisory Board for Arts Web Alameda County. Her newest creative projects include BLATANT – a multi-disciplinary, monthly forum presented in collaboration with the Museum of the African Diaspora as well as a published maga(zine) offered in conjunction with her platform Artist As First Responder which excavates, documents, and archives the stories of present-day and next generation cultural workers whose art practices heal communities and save lives. Ashara recently launched the Reflection Fund for Artist and is co-founder of Black [Space] Residency, a physical container for imagination, inquiry, activity and rest. Ashara.io
About: Brianna Mills is the founder and photographer of Visuals by Bri (VBB), a collection of her work, knowledge, and personal experiences. VBB strives to inspire and inform those who are embarking on their own career paths, while also providing tips, tricks, and a look into the beautiful difficulty of her solopreneurship journey. She intends to honestly capture and share as much of this world’s beauty as she can with others.
All images can be purchased on my website Shop page. Schedule a canvas consultation for a custom print/canvas order by emailing me at brianna@visualsbybri.com.
Images:
Mt Shasta, 2020, Digital Photograph She Surrenders, 2020, Digital Photograph Past the Horizon, 2020, Digital Photograph
About: The images submitted are part of Internal Landscapes, an ongoing series of paintings exploring the inner workings of the psyche. I hold undergraduate and graduate degrees in art, and there learned to render representational depictions of people and things; however, in the lens through which I perceive the world, abstract expressionism best lays out my internal schema of dancing with nature and divinity, and with outcries wedded to hope, agency and human decency.
Sweeping colours juxtaposed to tight enclaves of textured details speak to the nuances of my being and becoming fully human. Here, visual tension and melodic movements reside in the marrow of my bones alongside jazz and the blues, alongside moans of I can’t breathe and sunlight dancing through thickets of trees. Jazz, the blues and abstract art, to me, is where intellect boogies to the door of the heart knowing it speaks her mother tongue.
My name is Yasmin Sayyed, I am a visual and poetic artist, an expressive arts therapist, a trainer of social service professionals and an unapologetic socialist. I am a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. I divide my residence between the bay area and South Lake Tahoe. I have exhibited my work in the greater SF bay area, Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Hermosa Beach, NYC, the Tahoe Basin and Nevada, and authored an ethno-autobiographical book about painting with the splendour of spirit.
More info: Images: 1. Mother Earth is an acknowledgement of she who gives us sustenance and to whom we owe caretaking. 22″x30″, $2,000 original, $700 print on canvas 2. Brave Joy depicts a bold daring to know and embrace positive anticipation and joy in life. 22″x30″, $2,000 original, $700 print on canvas 3. Internal landscape illumines travels through internal schemas found in dreams and meditations about nature, 22″x30″, $2,000 original, $700 print on canvas
All Ages Online Class, Fridays, 12-1pm, Jan 22 – Feb 19
It’s going to be a big week. Join teaching artist Lauren Ari this Friday (or any Friday for the next five weeks) for a drawing class that is a mindful space to process and reflect. This is an all ages/intergenerational class so we can make and learn across generations. All levels of experience welcome. Simply bring plain white paper, a pen/pencil, and an open mind.
“I am a dual-credentialed educator and artist. I taught for five years as a special education teacher, but now I am focused on my art practice and anti-racist teaching work, specifically developing curriculum in Bay Area schools. At the moment I’m applying to MFA programs. This is all keeping me busy.” – Alex Martinez
We interviewed Alex Martinez to learn about her recent work and what it’s like to teach during a pandemic. Alex is teaching two classes at RAC this semester, Teen Journaling.
Image: Artwork by Alex Martinez, Disappeared Three Times (2020) (top); Alex Martinez teaching (right)
Exhibition Dates: February 11 – May 16, 2021 Artist Registration Deadline: Sunday, January 24, 2021
Art of the African Diaspora is the longest running event of its kind in the Bay Area. The event supports artists of African descent through representation, professional development, and building a creative community.
Are you an artist interested in participating in 2021? Join the Artist Info zoom session on Thursday, January 21, 6pm to learn about the 2021 program and ask your questions! Register HERE.
Image: Virtual studio tours will be a highlight of AOTAD 2021. See some tours are already online at aotad.org/wp/virtual-studio-tours (https://aotad.org/wp/virtual-studio-tours/)
In this class young artists will fill the pages of their art journals with fun projects using watercolors, colored pencils, ink, marker, paint, folded paper, and found objects.
Teen Class (Ages 12-17) Wednesdays, 3:30-5pm Jan 20 – Feb 10
Learn about the ways that contemporary artists address the environment and climate justice in their work, and incorporate these broader themes and strategies as inspiration for your own art.
Gather for community and positive dialogue about your art making process. Class will be held the Third Thursday of every month for four class meetings.
Enjoy this coloring sheet created by Richmond artist Tiffany Conway to honor the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
Tiffany says, “I’m deeply inspired by the legacy of our ancestors in particular, Martin Luther King. He has left a wealth of wisdom and guidance for us to utilize in times of despair. I am thrilled to honor his legacy.”
Artist Alex Martinez is a second-generation Queer, Mexican-American Chicanx, raised in Watsonville, California. She has lived in the Bay Area for 20 years, and is a teaching artist at Richmond Art Center.
Alex chatted with Amy Spencer, Exhibitions Director at RAC, on January 12, 2021.
Hi Alex! Let’s start with your art and teaching practice.
I am a dual-credentialed educator and artist. I taught for five years as a special education teacher, but now I am focused on my art practice and anti-racist teaching work, specifically developing curriculum in Bay Area schools. At the moment I’m applying to MFA programs. This is all keeping me busy.
What art project are you working on at the moment?
I’m continuing a series called Legacy of Resilience, which is about amplifying voices of transgender asylum seekers, and missing and murdered indigenous women. This was a collaborative project working with artists Eli Reyes and Malaya Tulay. So far we have created two large-scale portraits that highlight the effects of systemic racism on marginalized populations. The first portrait is called They Came Seeking Protection (2020, mixed medium, 48’’ x 65”) and shows Roxsana Hernandez and Johana “Joa” Medina Leon, transgender asylum seekers who died in detention at the US/Mexico border. The second portrait is called Disappeared Three Times (2020, mixed medium, 48’’ x 65”) and depicts missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, two-spirit and trans people. These works feature painted acrylic portraits, beadwork, text, and appliqué, as well as embroidery and linoleum block printing on the borders. I started the Legacy of Resilience series as part of a YBCA Public Participation Fellowship last year.
Alex Martinez, Eli Reyes, and Malaya Tulay, Disappeared Three Times, 2020. Mixed Medium, 48’’ x 65”. Courtesy the artists.
What has it been like continuing to make work and teach online during the pandemic?
At first it really felt like a big challenge and pivot. But teachers are adaptable. I think we all took it as a learning opportunity. Right now I’m an art teacher for middle schoolers. It continues to be a challenge to engage with students as they go from screen to screen, and I’m seeing screen fatigue. But we are just trying to be compassionate and understanding. And create spaces where kids can express some of the complicated feelings they are going through right now.
What are you teaching at Richmond Art Center this semester?
A teen journaling class. The class is designed as a series of one-off activities where kids can engage as they want. I created it like this because of my understanding of how hard it can be for young people to show up online right now. I wanted the class to be available to suit individual kids’ needs. Each class session focuses on a different medium and way of expression, so students can learn how to add a new design dimension to their journal. It’s about helping youth develop their own visual language across a ton of different mediums. As well as giving them the opportunity for exploration and connection with other youth.
Art Journaling for Teens (for ages 12-17) starts January 20 and runs through February 10. More info about the class is online HERE. Alex is also teaching a kids class Junk Art! (for ages 6-12) this semester. Info HERE. And you can visit Alex’s website to see her work HERE.
Thank you Alex!
Thank you! Making new work and teaching during covid is challenging, but I’m grateful to be able to do it.
Alex Martinez, Eli Reyes and Malaya Tulay. They Came Seeking Protection, 2020. Mixed Medium, 48’’ x 65”. Courtesy the artists.
Special events: Tiffany Conway is embarking on her debut Solo Show titled “Ethereal Hue”. Opening April 26th, 2021 at Oakstop Gallery, 1721 Broadway, Oakland. Visit projectgetfree.com for further details. Sign up for the weekly newsletter to stay informed on the show’s progress.
About: Art has provided me with the tools to communicate in a way that was not able to do before. And for that, I am forever grateful for the practice. Art allows me to retreat, restore, and express all that I have learned from moving through the world as an African American woman. Art connects me to the energy that lives within myself that I’m not always able to see.
I focus a lot on the transmutation to grief and beauty. And creating a dialog with myself through painting. I have an interest in skin tone and all that we carry underneath the top layer, which is why my art is so textural. I have an interest in using color as a language for emotions and perspectives and the body as a vehicle. Even though my work displays the beauty of others, what lies behind that initial layer are parts of my personal evolution.
I believe that it is important to unmask the myth of what strong should be. My overall vision is to create art that empowers vulnerability, as I believe that this is the ultimate superpower. When creating, I try to portray “softness” through my technique with skin tone in the attempt to portray my community, with humanity. When looking at my work I would like my audience to also see themselves with beauty, without hard lines, multidimensional, and navigating the world from the inside out.
