India Inspired Art

Be sure to check out my Indian Inspired Artwork in my Facebook gallery. I will be adding more to this album as time goes on and as more work is displayed in public. If you are interested in purchasing work please message me on Facebook or email me at FeliciaFollum (at) gmail (dot) com.

Some of the topics that my Indian Inspired Artwork addresses include Women in India, Trash, and the Mixing of Religion and Culture. 

Keep an eye out for my Artist Statement about my India Inspired Artwork to learn more and see how the body of work develops.
 

Send a Greeting and Fight Against Sex Trafficking

Waterlily hand printed greeting cards. Blank on the inside $5 each. $1 per card goes to Arts Aftercare (an organization dedicated to helping people through the arts). If you want me to write in and send a card I am more than willing just message me the text.

You can find these cards and other products in my ETSY shop or message me on Facebook if you have questions.

Waterlilies and Prostitution

lily pad painting (early stages)

In my current artwork I am using lily pads to talk about human trafficking and sex slavery.  For those of you who have been wondering how water lilies tie in with sex trafficking, keep reading. If you already have an idea, enjoy the pictures, look at more of my in progress lily pad art and keep reading just in case there is something new.  Be sure to like my Facebook page while you are at it.

Detail of lily pad (early stages)

For starters, I am comparing of the underground root system of the plants to networking system of human trafficking, prostitution, and sex slavery.  The intricate roots are located in dirty, slug and leech infested waters several feet below the surface. Traffickers and pimps manage to go unnoticed and stay just below the surface under the guise of a massage parlor owner or one of many other professions.  The dirty water tends to be hidden by the beauty of the flowers much like the happenings in the sex industry are disguised by the women with tough skin and fake smiles.

Waterlilies can often have up to 50 lily pads all connected to, and working for, the one root system.  In larger species such as the Amazon Waterlily these lily pads can grow up to 6 feet in diameter. The edges and underside often times have sharp spines and air pockets. The lily pads bring back chlorophyll to the roots and the beautiful flowers often bring back oxygen and allow the plant to reproduce. 

Beginning of some watercolors and upcycled shrinky dink

With their impressive size it is no surprise that this gorgeous and aggressive plant can easily take over a lake and choke out all other life in a body of water.  These plants have learned to adapt for survival even if it is at the expense of other life.  Many of the women and children in the industry have been forced to survive often times at the expense of each other.  This keeps them submissive and trustworthy allowing the viscous cycle of sex slavery to continue.

Here is another example of how I am using water lily to represent and talk about sexual addiction.

These are just the basics of my analogy for this body of artwork developed by significant research.  As I continue to research and develop the ideas further I will share more.

Flower Postcard Series

Here are the original postcards that I drew using ink and wash.  The original artwork is on ready-to-send postcard watercolor paper.  The next step is to scan these images and get them printed.  I will also design a back side for the duplicate postcards.  These images may work well for greeting cards.

My New Business Cards July 2011

I just created new business cards.
The top image is from my Haitian Orchid drawings.

The flowers are both ink drawings from my Flower Postcard series (previous post) that I plan to finish this summer.  The completed series and progress will be poster here.

Hatian Orchid

Here are some drawings of a bright purple orchid that was in the driveway of our hotel. The rectangle images are on postcard backs and the other is on watercolor paper.  To read more about my trip to Haiti, check out my Haiti Journal.

Here is a photograph of the orchid.

Flower Postcards

Here are some of my ink drawn flower postcards that I created the week before Haiti. While in Haiti, I also drew two more flower postcards of some orchids growing in our hotel parking lot.
Here are my ink drawings from Haiti.

I am not sure why, but I have always loved flowers.  

I even went to a flower camp with my mother-in-law. 

Since then, I draw and photograph them whenever I get a chance.

Although these designs are already on mail ready postcards, I would like to produce several prints of each for the Works of Wyoming gift shop as well as for friends and family.