The Good Mule

Facebook Cover Photo for The Good Mule

The Good Mule Conference on Social Justice is this weekend. I will have my lily pad artwork up tonight at the Bobby Bailey (co-founder of Invisible Children) as well at the conference tomorrow.  I will also be helping with a panel discussion with adults with disabilities from the Cooper Center. 

To learn more about what the events this weekend, check out the Facebook Event Page.

You can see my lily pads art on Facebook or read about the social issues behind my lily pad art here on my blog.

I hope to see some of you there tonight or tomorrow!

Good Mule Poster

Upcycling Inspiration for Earth Day!

For Earth Day I thought it would be appropriate to share some of my Upcycling projects, my Upcycling Pinterest Board and my  World Water Poster.

Circuit board inspired Art
More Circuit Board Inspired Art
Circuit Board Gift Created from an actual circuit board
Upcycled Shopping Bag
Upcycled Men's Shirt into a Shopping Bag Part 2
Paper Beads in Haiti

T-Shirt Necklaces
Dead Roses

Paper bead art lesson in Haiti

Some of the 150+ projects that can be found on my my Upcycling Pinterest Board include rubber band cards, Gumball Machine Fish Tank, Newspaper Art, CD Jewelry, toilet paper tube and plastic bag projects, Lego necklace, QWERTY key art, old window projects and many many more fashion, decorating and art ideas.


I am sure that these ideas will provide you with just the project inspiration you are searching for this Earth Day!

What are your favorite upcycling projects?

My Bra Art

Felicia Follum, 24"x36" 1 in 8 Bras

This poster is for the "Support the Cure" art exhibition at the Artful Hand Studio and Gallery in Cheyenne, Wyoming.  All of the work in the exhibition feature or are inspired by the bra in some form or another.  I chose to create a graphic design poster, in a style inspired by Paula Scherr.

Through research I found that 1 in 8 women have or have had breast cancer.  This poster displays 8 different kinds of bras, one of which is specifically for women who have had a breast removed due to cancer.  The Mastectomy bra is the same color as the stat to show that it is the 1 out of the 8.

If you would like to purchase a print of this poster 20% will go toward cancer research.  Please let me know and I can set up an item on ETSY or we can trade in person.

Social Justice Today (and This Week)

Trayvon and his father

In the past two weeks I have had two sets of parents come talk to me about race and how it impacts their young children. One is the mother to an adopted son from Africa who had to watch her little preschooler come home and try to scrub his blackness off because he was told he was dirty and wasn’t allowed to play with the other kids at school. Anther, the father of a young girl, who had to deal with his daughter coming home crying and saying “I want blue eyes.” In addition was also a major event (The murder of Trayvon, a 17 year old boy) that made many people rethink the race situation in America.

The mom with the preschooler is now dreading telling her son that just because he looks a certain way, he will need to be careful in certain neighborhoods, he will not be able to wear certain colors or certain clothes. Even if he is on the honor roll and gets into a good school, people will assume it was affirmative action because he couldn’t possibly do it on his own.

Noose

The father with the girl gets to explain to his daughter that she is beautiful even though everyone she studies in school, everyone she is surrounded by, models she sees, and the majority of people in power do not have the same skin tone, eye color, or hair texture as she does. She will need to learn to love her own beauty in a world that does not call her beautiful but rather exotic or ethnic.

I am reminded of a story I was told about two police officers sitting in a bar across from one of my friends talking about profiling Native Americans just for fun.

I am reminded of the time(s) I have been profiled, followed through stores, or stereotyped simply because of the color of my skin. I am reminded of family members murdered because of their race (and their successes in a white neighborhood) and I am reminded of violence toward myself and my friends because of my dark skin.  I have been told what it is like to be black in America by many white folks and I am here to tell you what it is really like.

People ask why I chose to use nooses in my artwork.  This is why.  People need to see that, though better, things are still a mess. We are not beyond racism. Racism is learned and we have not adequately taught our preschoolers to accept others. We, ourselves, have not learned to fully accept others. We have not acknowledged these problems, nor have we decided to actively fight against them. 

The nooses not only force us to think about racism in its present day form, but allow us to remember those who have been murdered because of their race or other forms of prejudice and hate such as sexuality, or gender, even modern day slavery.  We are still fighting this battle...

Some helpful links

Black is Beautiful Pin Board - This is an excellent way to help focus on images of people that look like you.  Also turn off the television

Tips to help your child see themselves as beautiful even when people at school do not

My Black is Beautiful - Celebrating African American women

More of my Artwork

Body Image
Native American
Human Trafficking

Have Fun and Stay Out of Jail: KONY 2012 Stencil Art

Everybody loves graffiti style stencil art.  Which is why I figured I should create a stencil for the KONY 2012 campaign (see my other KONY art).  You can use the stencil to create posters, t-shirts or to decorate your parents garbage can.

To create your own graffiti style t-shirt using this stencil follow these simple instructions
1. Cut along the outside lines using an x-acto knife.  The negative space in the O's, 0 and P will not show up, but will still read perfectly well.
2. Place a piece of cardboard or old newspaper inside a t-shirt to prevent the paint from bleeding through.
3. Position stencil on fabric and tape the edges.
4. Follow spray paint instructions and paint.

BE CAREFUL not to get the paint on surfaces other than your t-shirt (or whatever object you are painting) and always ask permission before painting.

If you would like to purchase this stencil with my poster pack check out my ETSY shop.  If you would like to create your own go for it.  I used Impact and Adobe Illustrator.  Be sure to photocopy or make several prints if you want to go stencil crazy...As my high school AP English teacher wrote on the board every Friday, "Have Fun and Stay Out of Jail."

Education in Response to Haiti

Did you know that less than 1% of what the world spends on weapons in a year was needed to put every child in school for the same amount of time, but it did not happen?

The above poster uses this quote and a photo of school children in Haiti.  The community I was in seemed to have a decent number of kids in school; however, most of the kids were still just running around.  All of the children I gave art lessons to were not in school this was about 40 each day.

For each 11x17 poster sold ($25) I will donate enough to Thomazeau, Haiti to sponsor one child in school for a year.  Please do let me know if you are interested.  If you would like more information about sponsoring a child or teacher for a year, please let me know. 

See more artwork inspired by my trip to Haiti.

What is The Good Mule?

The Good Mule is a student-led organization that is designed to equip students with the tools they need to fight for their own causes.  This justice based conference was the perfect venue for my artwork and I was honored to be the Featured Visiting Artist for the event.

Why a Mule?

Wikipedia describes a mule as the following…

“The mule possesses the sobriety, patience, endurance and sure-footedness of the donkey, and the vigor, strength and courage of the horse. Operators of working animals generally find mules preferable to horses: mules show less impatience under the pressure of heacy weight.

Mules exhibit a higher cognitive intelligence than their parent species – horses and donkeys. Mules are highly intelligent. They tend to be curious by nature. A mule generally will not let the rider put it in harms way…”

Though I will not be a student next year I am hoping to stay involved with the Good Mule in the future.  I would certainly be interested in facilitating, speaking about art and activism or displaying my artwork again. 

Check out some of the other organizations that I support.

Student Juried Exhibition

The annual Student Juried show is a pretty big deal at the University of Wyoming. This is my first time having work selected for the show.  Persistence certainly pays off.  My Malcolm X poster, titled "Who Taught you to Hate?" made it into this art show.

There are a variety of awards at the opening.  I received a purchase award from the Information Technology department and the Margaret Murdock Award for Social Justice cash award.

After the opening reception all students with work attend an after party with the president of the university, the college, and the Art Department faculty.  This event is referred to as the “Prom for the Art Department.”

Though this event is over there is certainly time to visit the University of Wyoming Art Museum.  There is even an audio recording about this work to which you can listen.

Check out my Facebook page for more artwork and photographs from the event.

The Good Mule: Artist Statement

This past weekend I was fortunate to be able to attend The Good Mule 2012 Conference as the Featured Visual Artist. I participated last year so was pretty excited about being invited to be the artist. See more of my thoughts from The Good Mule.

I am currently finishing up my last semester at the University of Wyoming and will be graduating in May. I will be graduating with a in Fine Arts and a second major in Humanities and Fine Arts (HUFA) as well as a minor in Graphic Design. My areas of emphasis for the HUFA degree are Philosophy, Religious Studies, African American and Diaspora Studies, and Art History. My dream job is to have an art studio where I can continue to create art and work with people through teaching, art therapy, and graphic design lessons.

The pieces that are on display come from a couple different bodies of work and addresses a variety of topics. These topics include LGBTQ issues, Christianity and the LGBTQ community, African American religious culture and history, Native American reservations, and poverty.

Make it Plain is my most recent body of work and focuses on African American Religious history and culture with the goal of helping people understand religious figures such as Malcolm X and James Cone. Make it Plain will be up in the 234 Gallery during the Shepard Symposium. If you would like to see the entire show, this would be an excellent opportunity.

My next body of work will be dealing with sex trafficking and modern day slavery. Be sure to check out my blog and Facebook page to track the progress of my upcoming work and learn more about individual pieces and the research that went into their creation. The URLs are on my business card.

I am certainly up for discussion about concepts, inspirations, the bodies of work these individual pieces come from, collaborations, sales, or art and activism in general.

To learn more about the Good Mule check out their website.

Human Trafficking: Art+ Global Justice

My next body of artwork will be focusing on the sex industry and human trafficking.  I am not sure where this will go but I would like to share a photograph I took over Christmas break while back home in Rapid City, South Dakota. I am not sure if I will use this image or not; however, I do think that it is a strong image.  It shows the contrast and addiction that our society possesses.  There are so many addicted to porn, many who think there is nothing wrong with and few who understand the effects that it actually has on our county.  Be sure to follow my blog for more information on the sex industry and human trafficking as well as my artwork in response to the topic.  This link will take you to posts directly relating to this body of work.

My goal is to have an idea by the end of this semester and a body of work by the end of summer (or a couple months after).  This may be pushing it but I think I can make it happen.

Phenomenal Woman

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou

Who Taught You to Hate Yourself?

Although King and Malcolm had their differences (theological and social) I would like to share a poster I created featuring the famous Malcolm quote "who taught you to hate yourself" in honor of Martin Luther King day.  Malcolm and King were both extremely important leaders in the African American community and the Civil Rights movement and both deserve to be honored.  The goal of my art exhibition was to create dialog about race, religion and the significance of African American history.  King and Malcolm both succeed in pushing this same conversation forward.

The famous "Who Taught You to Hate Yourself" speech by Malcolm X.

Below is an example of how young children have been taught to hate themselves through the images they see and what they are told.

Another video on the topic (great for parrents)

Tweet

World Water and Haiti

I created this poster in response to my Haiti trip.  The community we were in was incredibly fortunate.  They had their own well (about 1000 people) so that they had drinking water within in a couple miles; however, the kids would pick up our water bottles and pretend to drink.  It was adorable, as you can see.

The idea of a Haitian child pretending to drink from a water bottle creates a sense of cognitive dissonance.  When we look at how many children die each year from bad water and realize that Haiti ranks last in the world for drinkable water.  60% of the population does not have safe drinking water and a child mortality rate of more than 13 times that of the United States (10% of that is attributed to water related skin ailments and dysentery which lead to dehydration).

 
World Water Day is March 22nd, 2012.  Learn more about the world water crisis at the UN site or water.org.

Water and golf courses

Short Lived: Complete Story

Artist Statement from the show

The drawing technique of ink and wash along with graphic design concepts are both influential in my current work. Ink and wash is a medium that I have been exploring recently. As part of this exploration, I was excited to combine ink and wash with book arts, as the two work together well. My formal training in graphic design also had a major influence on my current work. The technical skills and precision needed in graphic design translated well to the construction of the books. The communication of ideas is also a strong focus within the graphic design discipline, and this skill is especially important with the political and social topics that I choose to address. I’ve found that these topics are well suited to book arts because of their interactive and intimate nature. For these works, I was fortunate to find that my formal training, current artistic direction, and personal interests fit well together within the book arts discipline.

The book show will be up through September 29th.  At the Works of Wyoming art gallery. As mentioned above, I often address social topics.  The topic of abortion still leads to heated and controversial arguments (or discussions, if lucky).  I like addressing serious topics through art because I can allow the viewer to think for himself.  I not telling the viewer what to believe or what to think but there is still interaction and dialog.

As an artist I am fortunate to be able to talk about topics in a unique language.

I like that my art can be as bold or as mellow as I want it to be.  It can be in your face and powerful or it can hint at an idea or symbol.  What are some social topics you would like to see addressed in my artwork? Take the one question quiz or let me know below. 

Short Lived - Social Artwork

I enjoy creating work that tells a story or communicates a message,
especially in response to a social topic.  

Since I possess a graphic design background it makes sense that much of my artwork would be about communication. 

This art book tells a short story and makes a point (though not obvious).

 This is one of my newest ink drawn creations.  It measures only 3.5 x 3.5 inches.  

The story is about creation and destruction...specifically an aborted life.

The way that I created the binding was also inspired by my graphic design experience.

It wraps around the book and is secured with a paper clasp.

The abstract shapes are characters that grow and change throughout.

I like that it is not too obvious, but once you see what is going on there is little doubt about there being a sad ending even if the issue of abortion is not picked up on.

The entire book will be back in my blog after the show opening.

I Love My Job!

I have enjoyed getting to know and work with these guys.

This summer I have been able to work part time for the Arts Van in Yakima. We travel around to a variety of parks and give art lessons to kids.

One of the parks has a large Spanish speaking population and many adorable kids, unfortunately, my Spanish is not great. The first week I was pretty shy (with speaking Spanish). About the third week I saw this little girl run from her house.  As she ran toward the park I shouted “Como Estas?”  “Bien,” she replied.

The older brother was so excited that I “was learning Spanish.” Since then, I have been practicing (and making a fool of myself).  The kids seem to appreciate the effort and enjoy helping me.
 
This art lesson is Papel Picado. We cut simplified traditional Mexican flags from tissue paper. The kids (and parents and older siblings) all had a blast.

 There are more photos of Papel Picado, the kids, and the ArtsVan below.

Racial Sterotypes

Here is an older graphics project. It is from a class that I took with David Carson.  We spent most of the class on one series of projects.  The assignment was to create a lecture that we would give about ourselves or our art work.  My talk and book were all about the myriad of racial stereotypes and prejudices that I have seen and experienced.

This 24"x36" poster was accepted into the AIGA Denver's Annual Student Exhibition in 2009.  

This quote is from my grandma.  When she found out that I was getting married she was overjoyed, not because I was getting married, but rather because I wasn't marrying a "nice white boy."  She then continued on about why she was glad that I was not marrying a black man.

Both my parents are white yet I am black, and maybe Native American (but I didn't know that was even a possibility until I was in college).  When I was little, kids would ask why I was black...

Thank you From East Asia

The photographs are from my friend's previous trips to Asia.

I just finished this card for a friend going on a church trip to East Asia. The cards will go out to his friends and family who supported him though both prayer and monetary donations. He will be in Asia for six weeks this summer.

Grace is Queer Poster Series

This poster series is based on the topic of the lack of grace in the church. To learn more check out my Grace is Queer website I created, visit my religion blog, or visit my art and design website.  Click the image to see more about the concept behind the specific poster.

Incarceration

I did a project that focused on the Indian Reservations in the United States. These areas seem to get ignored but several of the reservations have living conditions comparable to the ghettos in Haiti. Those who live on PR do live on $1 - $2 per day. It is clear that there are many problems on the reservations and it is difficult to come up with a solution.

What do you think of when you see this poster?  Do you Agree with the message you see?  Does it fit the ideas that our country was built on?

What experience do you have, that you can relate to this?