VERDANT AFRO ART

ThisBlackGirlsArt

early in my development as an artist/ designer a major influence came thanks to the time I spent with my father who would paint designs onto glass, first planning and designing a reverse version of the wording and florals he wanted to use followed by the application of paint One layer and colour at a time building up a complete picture, at the end being blown away me away with the big reveal when it was finally right side up

By the time I was twelve I Wanted to be a fashion designer. I loved the idea of playing with all kinds of beautiful fabric of varying texture and colour as well as the mastery of form, through pattern cutting.

focused on fashion, I went on to Southwark college where I took on a 2 year course in art and design in the 1st year learning a lot about several areas of design Fashion graphics multimedia the history of art etc.

Midway through the 1st year of college I was stopped in my tracks by one of our fantastic tutors, her name was Sarah she was great at pointing out your strengths and weaknesses. She noticed that I seamed to prioritise working on surface pattern design and had a talent for it, rather than concentrating on my pattern cutting skills which is a must for garment construction and becoming a fashion designer. After a rethink. I realised She had a point, I was more interested in the pattern. All these Years later I’m still a freelance surface print designer for fashion and interiors.

But surface pattern design is more about obeying trends that come around more and more often sometimes so quickly they are more like design staples and when you have reworked the same idea many times it can loose it’s lustre

I love art because of it’s ambiguity Leaving the viewer to draw their own interpretation and to move you mentally and emotionally this is about pushing myself and seeing where it takes me, I love art and want to share the results of my exploration starting here

When drawing self, I wanted to get across a sense of identity using rich colour and detail my skills as a designer after all it is a big part of who I am as is my Afro and I will style or wear it in many a fun way which I see as a great form of expression, the shape and style and marks on my face were inspired by a tribal mask that spoke to my sense of belonging Tracy.