Dear Friends,
It has been a sad week in the news. If you are a child, I hope you have talked to your family about what racism is and how we can all work together to abolish it. If you are an adult, I am doing my best to educate myself on how to help make our world right. This will be a journey. My first step is to share the words that are important to me and communicate their meaning with art.
This week’s post is dedicated to our Black community and the heartbroken families. If you are a person of color and are offended in any way by my interpretation of these words, please let me know.
So, let’s begin…
My inspiration came from a quick getaway last week. We headed north.
I woke up the first morning to see a family of ducks traveling across the water together. They looked so peaceful swimming in the giant lake. They had it all to themselves! What would you do with all that water?
The next image is a nearby birdhouse. I couldn’t get a good look at the bird perched on the balcony, but she appeared to be a Grackle. Have you seen this bird before?
We almost left without packing our favorite beach activity! We love playing Trac-Ball next to the water. I decided to use our racquets as shape inspiration.
And it wouldn’t be a beach getaway without a grand sunset!
Did you spot the row of ducks?
Next, let's look at my BEFORE and AFTER Activity sheet…
Once ideas were locked in, I moved onto pen drawings…
If this is your first time visiting, my character-creating practice has led me to one conclusion. If I’m stuck, I think of a theme! Those themes usually come from my week of experiences. When it came time to come up with characters on Wednesday, I hit a wall. I couldn't see any characters in my BLOBS.
So I turned to words. These concepts were on my mind: Equality, Sow, Educate and Unity. What do these words mean to you?
My first pair of characters helped me communicate my Sow theme. We need to work together to create permanent change in our world. I learned that the Black eyed-Susan symbolizes justice. The flowering plant below is a majestic version…
The next group of characters communicate Education. We need to read often and learn more about our Black community and history.
We learned about Maya Angelou, Miriam Makeba, Nina Simone and Wangari Maathai a few years ago when we ordered the book GOOD NIGHT STORIES FOR REBEL GIRLS. What Black figures in history have inspired you?
The last characters communicate Equality. We are one no matter what our skin color is.
The last BLOB was especially challenging. I focused on Unity. The first showed a row of characters brought together by a rainbow. But it didn’t feel powerful enough for me. Martin Luther King, Jr. and I share the same birthday and I remember learning about him in kindergarten (Thank you Mrs.Nigerian!). I decided to honor him in my Unity image and share a quote that moves me.
This is a fictional banner created by kids and filled with their hand prints. If you could make a banner to celebrate Black lives, what would it look like?
Thank you for visiting today. If it’s hard to communicate how you feel during this time, I hope you use art and character design to express your emotions. If you feel like sharing, I’m here to support you!
Be well.