HindsightGallery

Sunday In The Park/ Cool Series
RA-4 Chromogenic/ Original Darkroom Print
13 3/4 X 21 1/4 X 1 inches

County: Pinellas
Age: 69
Month Created: March

It is the future, and the pandemic/plague/apocalypse has created new humans (dog people) and humans must wear gas masks. Sundays are a day for family.

The Lost Summer
Oil
12 x 9 inches

County: Orange
Age: 63
Month Created: June

Orlando has experienced two stay-at-home initiatives since March. While the virus spread, my thoughts of travel were diminished. I chose this painting, produced from an experience last September while on a painting trip to Long Island, NY. There is the ocean breeze, reminiscent of my summers in New England. The empty chair, waiting for my return. This piece reflects the overwhelming feeling of limbo and loneliness, while the cool ocean breeze adds a familiar comfort.

Sleeping In
24 x 24 inches
Oil on canvas

County: Orange
Age: 70
Month Created: April

During the prolonged quarantine from an unseen dangerous pandemic, the artist and his wife turn to each other for comfort and encouragement. The boundaries blur between sleep and waking, and daily routines take on new focus.

Ceremonia Solitaria
Acrylic and oil
8 x 10 x ½ inches

County: Orange
Age: 23
Month Created: April

Before the pandemic, I regularly participated in sweat lodge ceremonies and other similar rituals throughout Central Florida which were always facilitated by other people. Since the pandemic, I have been learning how to hold ceremony for myself, by myself. The seclusion has actually been extremely conducive to my personal development. This composition seeks to highlight the significance of solitude when embarking on the very personal journey inward.

Isolation
Pastels
10 x 8 inches

County: Polk
Age: 11
Month Created: March

A singular female figure, drawn in somber shades of blues and other darks to represent the feelings of isolation.

COVID Hair Don’t Care
Pencil
8 x 6 inches

County: Polk
Age: 38
Month Created: April

About a month into quarantine, a friend sent me his photo. He captioned it: “My hair got tall.” He wasn’t the only one affected by this event; outward appearance being the most noticeable in many of my friends, colleagues, and family members. May these portraits serve as a lighthearted monument to a time that has proved to be challenging.

Portrait of Jason.

Life on Hold
Mixed media
16 x 10 ¼ inches

County: Polk
Age: 46
Month Created: June

I was thinking of my 16 year old daughter when I created this piece. Trying to imagine what it feels like to be isolated from her friends.

I use photographs that I have taken to make these spray paint stencils.

Points of Interest: Place I've Once Loved
Oil on canvas
14 x 11 inches

County: Polk
Age: 22
Month Created: August

In this self-portrait, the building behind me is the dormitory where I spent my freshman and senior years of college. It quickly became a place that felt like home with many happy memories from living behind these doors. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. and rushed all of the students out of their dorms, this place never felt the same. And for the foreseeable future, new memories can only be made outside of this dormitory with a mask on and 6 ft apart from others who once were much-much closer.

The Wind of Change
Mixed media
16 x 20 inches

County: Pinellas
Age: 29
Month Created: March

I would like to show people my beautiful world.

Jaden Dixon - Upcoming Black Icons
Graphite, ink, watercolor, and sharpie highlighters
12 x 9 inches

County: Polk
Age: 16

Part of a series of work highlighting up and coming Black artists, musicians, business owners, and athletes. In all of the portraits I include graphics that describe more about the individual. "JD" for Jaden Dixon; music notes because, although he is a rapper, he is a classically trained musician.

Masked Opinions
Photography
5046 x 5067 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 62
Month Created: August

One of many opinions regarding use of masks, in this case unspoken.

Fighting the Blues in Quarantine
Alcohol ink on yuppo paper
11 x 14 inches

County: Orange
Age: 36
Month Created: May

Still life with flowers and Zoom meeting.

Dr. Fauci
Acrylic
9.25 x 11 inches

County: Polk
Age: 68
Month Created: July

This is my visual thank you to a tireless researcher for the American people.

Isolation 2020
Marker Art
2400 x 1734 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 14
Month Created: August

Counting the days in isolation as we await some return to normal.

Wetiko
Digital Intuitive Collage
12 x 12 inches

County: Polk
Age: 52
Month Created: April

Empire and civilization in collapse. Climate devastation, poverty, war, and ravenous consumption. Are these simply natural outcomes of late-stage capitalism or manifestations of an infected state, a mind virus of modernity? Wetiko is an Algonquin word for a cannibalistic spirit that is driven by greed, excess, and selfish consumption. It is the spirit of the day whose only antidote is making the unconscious conscious.

Frohawk
Digital
20 x 16 inches

County: Seminole
Age: 26
Month Created: July

It was what seemed like another “normal” day of school. She walks into the hallway and heads to her locker. On the way there, she’s stopped by her usual bullies. They tease her about her hair, calling it “unruly and nappy.” One proceeds to refer to her as Brillo-Pad. The other had the nerve to try to grab her precious crown.

One of the third grade math teachers saw what was happening and headed towards them. She breathed a sigh of relief and thought “thank goodness!” Please give them after school detention!” But to her surprise, it wasn’t the bullies that the teacher confronted . . . it was her.

The math teacher shooed the bullies away and gave her a suspension slip. On the slip was a note. The note read: “Per school policy, your hairstyle does not follow the proper guidelines.”

She was suspended from school because of her FROHAWK. She was suspended for being herself and rocking her natural do.

To the young queen in third grade, don’t give up who you are. Don’t ever stop fighting to be yourself and to outwardly express who you are. Your hair is a part of you. NEVER LET THEM TAINT YOUR PRECIOUS CROWN.

6 Feet Away
Alcohol markers
8.25 x 7.5 inches

County: Polk
Age: 12
Month Created: July

There are two masked girls returning to school. One is in a purple sweater that says “6 feet away.” The other girl is in a pink sweater that says “Hugs.” Girl with “Hugs” sweater is open armed towards the girl in the “6 feet away” sweater, who is holding out a tape measure measuring six feet. They are standing in front of a chalkboard that says, “Welcome back! Please stay 6 ft away from each other.”

Safer-At-Home
Found objects, wood, paper
26 x 12 x 5.5 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 54
Month Created: August

An assemblage of vintage and new objects representing how safer-at-home orders, while necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19, have made our homes feel smaller the longer we stay inside.

Stay Safe in Quarantine
5 x 7 inches
Paper

County: Polk
Age: 8

Nurse and Police Officer

Home Confinement
Mixed media
21 x 18 x 3/4 inches

County: Polk
Month Created: April

This an image of myself eating alone while my daughter is texting me above; she lives in Boston, MA.

The Raven Issues Warnings
Watercolor and mixed media collage
22.5 x 15 inches

County: Pinellas
Age: 76
Month Created: July

“Biblical Birds” is an ongoing series that explores the spaces between temporality and spirituality, between that which is passing and that which is lasting. We are being warned by the many issues affecting us personally and our society in general.

Masami: Performer
Photography
36 x 24 inches

County: Orange
Age: 48
Month Created: June

Masami uses her talent to create performances that draw her audience into a cross-cultural dialogue of issues pressing in today’s climate.

All Alone - Reaching for Comfort
Photography
12 x 18 inches

County: Pinellas
Age: 47
Month Created: June

In these strange times of isolation, we find ourselves reaching. Reaching, grasping for faith, seeking comfort but only finding it may be out of touch.

To Your Health
Oil on canvas
9 x 12 inches

County: Orange
Age: 59
Month Created: May

A self-portrait of the artist on the porch in the evening of isolation, raising a glass of wine to no one in particular - and at the same time to everyone's health. I want to convey good vibes and hopefulness with the play of shadows and lights, with the lights taking a prominent stage, illuminating the artist, accentuating the rich burgundy of the wine, translucent tones of the skin, and reflections.

Cities on Fire, Minneapolis
Acrylic painting
12 x 16 inches

County: Polk
Age: 65
Month Created: July

The fires that continue to burn in cities across the country, symbols of both grief and hope for the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as of funeral pyres of the Black sisters and brothers murdered by police.

Covid-19 series, 2020.

The Hurt is Real
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 24 inches

County: Pinellas
Age: 43
Month Created: June

When a whole population is screaming out in pain, people should listen. This was created post-George Floyd’s death and the protest that followed. I felt that the more people cried out in pain, the louder other people yelled that it isn't that bad. A good doctor listens to the patient

Corona Boat
Drawing
8.5 x 11 inches

County: Polk
Age: 7
Month Created: August

I was inspired to draw a sailboat, and I named it S.V. Corona because being out on the water is a safe place to get fresh air and social distance at the same time. Plus being out in nature is a healthy way for our minds to be refreshed.

Lumpia Lesson
Acrylic on handmade paper
5.5 x 8.5 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 36
Month Created: August

I based this painting on a photo I took of my son back in April 2020, after his daycare closed from a Covid- 19 exposure scare. I taught him how to make Filipino spring rolls called lumpia.

Being half-Filipino myself, I wanted to make lumpia with him as it is usually reserved for special occasions and is time-consuming. Making something celebratory together and teaching my son a part of his heritage broke the monotony of our new daily life. I painted this on paper that my son helped me make in July. When our recycling was suspended temporarily due to Covid-19 cases among the center’s staff, my son and I sorted and shredded cardboard to reduce our full recycling bin and make new paper. It became another bonding lesson for us in this time of uncertainty.

Quarantine
Mixed media
5 x 7 inches

County: Polk
Age: 68
Month Created: April

When we had even more restrictions enforced, I continued to hope with a watchful but anxious attitude. Fear was the nature of the news reports and the order of the day. It was difficult to know a lie from the truth.

Hole on man it coming
53 x 65 inches
Baby clothes, relief print on fabric

County: Hillsborough
Age: 31
Month Created: March

This work depicts a Black woman who is caring for a white child as his nanny. The artwork is a fabric painting created with baby clothes of the child and relief printmaking techniques on fabric. During this pandemic, women employed as nannies provide an important and essential service to middle-class families now working from home. The work contemplates the social complexities that intersect gender, class, culture, immigration, domestic labor, and heredity.

Weather Report
Linoleum block print
9 x 6 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 59
Month Created: July

Weather Report is a 2-color linoleum block print conceived during our isolation time. This print is hand-pressed on Japanese Washi Paper. Weather Report is a visual expression about how I'm feeling about our struggle to stay safe from this virus.

2020 So Far From a Young Black Girl’s Perspective
Digital art
4000 x 4000 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 16
Month Created: July

This image is basically a summary of 2020 from my perspective: from COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter Movement to how it affects me, a person of color.

Protected Getaway
Digital art
1080 x 1350 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 36
Month Created: August

Working remote, ready for this Zoom call.

Ron DeSacrifice
Video
0:14 seconds

County: Polk
Age: 36
Month Created: June

Just a small offering to get back to normal.

Click here to view video on Vimeo.

BLM x Pride 2020
Digital Art
20 x 16 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 28
Month Created: July

This painting illustrates that one can support both the BLM movement and the LGBTQ+ community and be on the same side. As an African American, I feel like I shouldn't have to pick sides, especially when I'm a part of both communities. While we are all coming together to combat systemic racism, there are still divisive conversations being had that can weigh heavily on our hearts.

Into the Streets: 2020 Version
Pastels
8 x 10 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 79
Month Created: July

Although I couldn't be there, I wanted to depict the strength and depth of feeling of the protestors.

Society’s Child
Acrylic
11 x 14 inches

County: Polk
Age: 68
Month Created: March

The loneliness of the homeless. Sadly every city and town has its homeless population.

Unfocused
Photography
5616 x 3744 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 54
Month Created: July

Is it me, or is life a little out of focus lately?

BLM Series #6
Photography
6000 x 4000 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 20
Month Created: July

Rickey Tedesco spray paints a backdrop that states "Black Lives Matter 2" to highlight the injustice against the Black community, societal issues that are currently being brought to light, and the LGBTQ+ community. Throughout this series, vulnerability and firmness can both be seen.

Quarantine
Oil on canvas
14 x 14 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 38
Month Created: April

A look of fear exposed through the eyes, the only visible feature of a masked face. This reflects the tangible and ethereal reality of the uncertainty at the time.

2020 From My Room
Digital Photo
6.7 x 4.5 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 15
Month Created: July

I don't see what happens in 2020. I just hear about it, and then I try to ignore it.

Innocence
Acrylic on canvas
20 x 16 inches

County: Polk
Age: 42
Month Created: July

This represents the sadness and confusion small children are feeling these days due to the pandemic and social distancing.

The pages are from a book from 1923 titled, “The Household Physician” and are mounted onto a canvas and painted with acrylics.

My Daddy
Photography
3 : 2 aspect ratio

County: Polk
Age: 29
Month Created: May

BLM protest in Lakeland, FL

Listen to Scientists
Acrylic on canvas
12 x 12 inches

County: Polk
Age: 71
Month Created: July

Politics and religion speak to some even when science and viruses are neither. Humans have the need to be right. We all miss contact and companionship.

Suspect at Birth
Acrylic
30 x 40 inches

County: Polk
Age: 33
Month Created: May

Suspect at Birth is a picture of a Black baby boy lying in a crib on an American flag blanket, with a mobile that has a gun, a pack of Skittles, and handcuffs. His mother is praying over him in the crib.

COVID Monster
14 x 11 inches
Drawing

County: Polk
Age: 15
Month Created: August

It’s a dramatic but somewhat realistic view of the world we live in right now. COVID is looked at as this terrible sickness (which is true) but if someone gets it, some people look at them as if they're a "monster."

This drawing also tries to encourage people to wear a mask to protect themselves and others.

Spring Memory
Acrylic
28 x 22 x ½ inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 19
Month Created: March

This painting was inspired by a memorable experience I had with some dear friends of mine when we went to visit Hollis Garden around Lake Mirror just before we went into quarantine due to COVID-19. Shortly after this, I was listening to Sheku Kanneh-Mason's "Spring Song" when this image came to my head, and I knew I wanted to paint the memory that, at the beginning of painting, I desperately wanted to go back to. But after finishing the painting, I was just thankful that it happened.

Say Their Names
Digital
24 x 16 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 28
Month Created: June

I wanted to capture the raw emotion of African American women during this time. I channeled the emotions expressed in conversations I had with my wife and the women in my family about the current events into this painting. It features the names of those women that we've tragically lost, but also serves as a call to action for the view with the messages incorporated into the piece.

The Unfree
Acrylic/silver leafing
18 x 24 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 38
Month Created: August

Inspired by Child Immigration Detention Centers.

Can You See Me?
Photography
6105 x 4070 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 20
Month Created: March

Do we really see people for who they are? Past an outer appearance and generations of false teaching? Do we see the person looking into our eyes and the magnitude of who they are? The beauty that encompasses them inside and out?

The Moon
Watercolor over cotton paper, collage and clay
6 x 6 x 3 inches

County: Orange
Age: 27
Month Created: July

On Tarot cards, the moon represents the exact moment that we facing ourselves, our difficulties, our ego, and the dark side of us. How is beautiful to facing ourselves.

All I/We/They/It Ask
Photography
6016 x 4000 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 15
Month Created: August

Humans as a whole are selfish. We ignore facts and act as we please. We oppress others and ignore problems. We disregard mandates and think only of our gain. We hear the calls of our dying planet and we turn away. All our world has ever asked is that we protect it, care for it and its inhabitants. We turned away leaving it to suffer at our hands. In life the only thing we humans have ever truly cared about is ourselves.

Isolation #5
Photography
10 x 8 inches

County: Polk
Age: 24
Month Created: April

For this series, I wanted to focus on loneliness and isolation during quarantine. All of these images were taken between March and May. I used all these images for my final project in college at Barry University. This series is 64 images. But this is one of my favorites.

Bike America
Acrylic/Collage
24 x 30 x 1 inches

County: Polk
Age: 59
Month Created: April

The artwork depicts the history of biking, a simple pastime through the centuries . . . except during Covid-19 when we experienced a bike shortage and we longed for the desire to get outside and ride.

COVICtory
Oil painting
40 ¾ x 30 x ¾ inches

County: Pinellas
Age: 61
Month Created: July

Ever since I began the serious study of art in high school in Japan, I have gravitated toward classical Greek sculpture and its accompanying storyline, Greek mythology. The subject in this painting, Winged Victory of Samothrace, is my favorite sculpture of Nike, the goddess of victory. The deep garnet wings in shadow represent the spilled blood of over 200,000 Americans who have been needlessly sacrificed to this pandemic in only its first year. Placing the dark in the background, while bringing light to the foreground shows my wish for Victory over Covid. The goldleaf treatment on the frame represents “kintsugi” (Japanese golden joinery), part of the waste-not-want-not Japanese wabi-sabi tradition of repairing cracks in lacquer, glass, wood or ceramic with gold. This not only repairs but also further strengthens the piece, while celebrating the very spot where a weakness became a strength.

This is my prayer that we will soon all rejoice in Victory over COVID!

Center Stage
Photography
3601 x 5866 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 15
Month Created: August

During this time Earth is in crisis. However, it has still not taken center stage. We care more about the next episode of our favorite TV show than the planet we live on. Think about how and all you've felt during this pandemic: the fear and inconvenience, suffocated, like it’s hard to feel normal again. That's how our planet must feel.

Brunch
Acrylic on canvas
16 x 20 inches

County: Pinellas
Age: 43
Month Created: May

I really miss doing brunch during this quarantine. I can’t wait to be able to meet up with friends and enjoy Sunday brunch again.

Fig. 4
Chalk pastel
24 x 30 inches

County: Polk
Age: 23
Month Created: June

This piece belongs in a series I began while in quarantine. A nude figure is half prone, back facing the viewer but twisted around so that we see the profile of her face.

Jason: Self
Photography
36 x 24 inches

County: Orange
Age: 48
Month Created: June

“Low Key Community” is a series about community, empowerment, growth, and hope. Society is looking in the mirror right now and coming to terms with what it sees. It was the beginning of June when I finally paused and looked into a mirror; I had physically changed. After the lockdown began, I unintentionally quit shaving. I never thought a beard would suit me, but I appreciated what I saw. It is sometimes easier to accept change and grow gracefully. We should all try looking more.

Spark
Digital print
24 x 24 inches

County: Polk
Age: 68
Month Created: July

In response to the claustrophobia associated with isolation, I thought it might be fun to create a world inspired by an ant farm.

Lean on Me
Photography
4480 x 6720 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 20
Month Created: March

Unity is vital. It is something without which our world collapses. Our world today needs this more than ever. May we lean on each other and be willing to listen, heal, and unite. Unity is a foundation to build upon.

Running Man
Mixed media, primarily clay
14 x 13 x 6 inches

County: Orange
Age: 60
Month Created: May

Mixed media assemblage: primarily clay, (raku-fired) glaze, fabric, found objects and repurposed items. This piece is about Indigenous Man running away from Man. Pushed, oppressed, and driven out of their own domain and left to their own devices - and no (promised) governmental support during a pandemic.

Quarantined
Mixed media
20 x 22 x 1/2 inches

County: Polk
Month Created: August

I completed this yesterday. It represents my sadness and feeling of loss of lives by this virus.

A Handmade Response
Oil
10 x 8 x ¾ inches

County: Polk
Age: 44
Month Created: April

What inspired me to paint A Handmade Response were the numerous women in our town and in cities across the nation who took the initiative to begin making masks by hand when PPE supplies were hard to find. Not only did they share how to make them, they also donated hundreds of masks to those without in the hopes of preventing the spread of Covid-19. I think about the time, the cost of countless yards of fabric, spools of thread, elastic, and packs of needles used to make the masks and how they're generously given away. These women endured pricked fingers, sore necks, and aching backs and yet they continued to push towards fulfilling a need one mask at a time. Their efforts have not gone unnoticed, and the gesture was not lost on me. We are blessed to have women such as these in our communities.

Sheltered in Thoughts
Watercolor
12 x 8 inches

County: Polk
Age: 17
Month Created: August

This series is based on my own experiences during quarantine. Because both of my parents are essential workers, my mom being a nurse, going out is never an option. Being stuck at home you start to daydream about life outside of the bubble, imagining what might’ve been if Covid had never happened. Being home every hour of every day, depression becomes a norm in the isolation, and dreaming of life becomes a necessity to stay calm and make it easier. Using simple earth tones and dull colors, my series shows me alone in two-dimensional line drawings looking alone and almost lost in thought.

Tsunami
Watercolor
8 x 10 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 19
Month Created: May

This piece was created from the MerMay prompt list (created by Disney veteran animator, Tom Bancroft) that artists from all around the world participated in. Despite being separated, it was amazing to take part in something that connected people from different countries and backgrounds. I wanted to take this opportunity to create something with such strength and force while also challenging myself to go outside my comfort zone. Characterizing nature in this way was a difficult task, but it also inspired me to pay more attention to my surroundings and appreciate the aspects of nature that could easily be missed if I hadn't taken the time to stop, breathe, and live more presently.

Shells with Vermeer
Colored pencil
40 x 32 inches

County: Orange
Age: 65
Month Created: May

Original colored pencil drawing on Arches hot press paper.

Fig. 2
Chalk pastel
24 x 30 inches

County: Polk
Age: 23
Month Created: May

This piece belongs in a series I began while in quarantine. A nude figure sits and touches her toes. Her back is extended, and facing the viewer and her face is hidden by her arm. She exists on a negative plane.

New Norm
Watercolor
15 x 11 x 1 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 68
Month Created: May

Going to the store and finding empty shelves where paper products used to be, kind of scary.

Tea Kettle
Oil on canvas
14 x 18 inches

County: Orange
Age: 70
Month Created: April

Morning tea, a daily ritual, the artist reaches for the tea kettle, but also waves to himself, a social gesture in a time of social distancing.

Four Doors
Photography
809 x 2156 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 21
Month Created: August

2020 has been a tough year, even more so when spending it self-isolating from your own family. The little things like birthday gatherings, family dinners, and game nights are limited to what is capable through a computer screen.

Although we are separated, we are fighting the same battle. Together.

Palette Philosophy
Acrylic on canvas
48 x 36 inches

County: Polk
Age: 26
Month Created: July

Using only 9 colors to create this painting, and underlined by these colors at the base of it, Palette Philosophy is a visual representation of my experience unlearning racism in the art world. The main subject sits in a chair painted with a light pink color called "flesh yellow," gesturing like a subject in a Raphael or Michelangelo study. The orientation of the figure and chair is at an angle that makes the viewer unsure of the correct perspective to view the piece from.

Bird Watching During a Pandemic
Photography
1800 x 1800 pixels

County: Polk
Age: 54
Month Created: April

Life happens when we are looking the other way . . .

Yuh no see say him hungry
Baby clothes, relief print on fabric
53 x 65 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 31
Month Created: March

This work depicts a Black woman who is caring for a white child as his nanny. The artwork is a fabric painting created with baby clothes of the child and relief printmaking techniques on fabric. During this pandemic, women employed as nannies provide an important and essential service to middle class families now working from home. The work contemplates the social complexities that intersect gender, class, culture, immigration, domestic labor and heredity.

The Beacon
Oil on linen
24 x 18 inches

County: Pinellas
Age: 58
Month Created: July

During these dark times of isolation and uncertainty there is always a beacon of hope and Nature's loving reassurance.

We Can’t Breathe
Graphite, ink (pen), and watercolor
8 x 10 inches

County: Polk
Age: 16

We Can't Breathe is a memorial of sorts for George Floyd. Within his jacket are several historical references to the injustices against Black people: lynching, slavery (cotton and lavender/indigo flowers), and segregation (Colored-only sign, "Jim Crow must go,” and signs from the Civil Rights movement in the 1950s to 1960s). The central figure is George Floyd, who, even in death, has become an icon of the Black Lives Matter movement. Surrounding George Floyd are a collection of quotes that resulted from his death. The title, We Can't Breathe, is a reference to the manner by which George Floyd was killed, and how the discrimination, injustices toward black people, institutional racism. etc. have metaphorically suffocated black people in America.

United
Pen and ink
9 x 15 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 27
Month Created: June

Using tiny dots and lines, I created this drawing as an expression of the beauty found when we can all come together against racial injustice, regardless of skin color. I filmed the creation of this drawing as a timelapse, which can be viewed at the link below:

https://youtu.be/jJ1Y65EpOiU

Times Are a Changing
Acrylic
36 x 48 inches

County: Orange

Acrylic painting with two figures, one white, one black in an abstracted city setting.

Lab Rats
Oil
16 x 20 x 1 inches

County: Hillsborough
Age: 27
Month Created: August

Putting a fun spin on a tough time, three playful mice explore a doctor's office during the pandemic.

Empower Her
Digital photo

County: Polk
Age: 29
Month Created: August

Ten-year-old Naimah is truly magnetic. Her piercing eyes, distinct scar, and infectious personality immediately captivate everyone she meets. These features convey Naimah’s underlying complexity, providing a brief window into facets of her unique story and experience. 2020 has been an unprecedented year in many ways. As our nation continues to struggle with the difficult realities of racial injustice, it is imperative that we work together and continue fighting for inclusion and equality for all. Our country has a duty to children like Naimah, to empower her and to create a better America for future generations.

RGB
Digital illustration

County: Polk
Age: 31
Month Created: June

This year, I have had the time to take a deeper look into the way our world works, the US works, and general politics. RGB has played a significant role in my influences and choices. She has been an empowering figure in my life. She continually fought for women and general human rights for our country. She has taught me strength and persistence. As an illustrator, when I draw someone, I meditate on that person and I take the time to learn about that person, drawing them brings me closer to them.

Mask On. Mask Off. Repeat.
13000 x 13000 pixels
Digital art

County: Polk
Age: 25

The spread of Covid can easily be prevented with 3 minor steps: "MASK ON. MASK OFF. REPEAT." We all can save a life and our futures. When I notice someone not wearing a mask, I think about the risks for our children, the elderly, and the people with weak immune systems. The African American community has enough going on: it's either getting killed by the police, getting yelled at for not serving customers without a mask, or catching the Coronavirus. We are tired. If you're not wearing a mask, then what are you doing?

Creeping Isolation
30 x 24 x 1 inches
Oil on birch wood panels

County: Hillsborough
Age: 18
Month Created: April

The piece features the creeping feeling of isolation and depression brought on by the quarantine. The feeling and beauty of spring is darkened and turned sour by the idea of being locked in due to a pandemic and not being able to enjoy a year that was thought to be the best in the eyes of most.

Is There Anybody In There?
9 x 12 x 3/4 inches
Acrylic and thread on canvas

County: Pinellas
Age: 38
Month Created: May

A misty morning in the woods, with an unclear path ahead. This painting was created during the pandemic and the way I felt about the uncertainties that lie ahead. The medium is acrylic, and the tree trunks are sewn with thread.

BLM
8 x 8 inches
Watercolor and acrylic

County: Polk
Age: 12
Month Created: August

BLM, something that should be common sense and not have to be said.

Free and Beautiful
11 x 14 inches
Charcoal and acrylic

County: Polk
Age: 54
Month Created: August

This drawing is just a reminder to stop looking at black with stereotypes created by racism. Break the barbed wire, set yourself free. Black is bold. Black is beautiful.