Updates... #GirlTalkJLG (revisited)

I wanted to take a few minutes and write a little about my recent ladies added to my #GirlTalkJLG (revisited) series because they are important to me...and to so many others.

​The incomparable Miss Erykah Badu.

I don't want to say I know EVERY word to every one of EBadu's songs...but let's just say I can hang, and so can my best girls from back home.    I can't sing, but I sure to try my best 'cause I love her music and I feel every bit of it my heart.  Been a fan for over twenty years.  I have included her in artwork before, in my first GT series back in January 2016, and later that same year in my #FelineFabJLG series- where I imagined her with some colorful cats in full Badu-head wrap and baubles.  

For my revisited version of my #GirlTalkJLG series I am focusing on African American Women in honor of Black History Month- but as their younger selves.  I gotta tell you, it has been hard to find photos of some of the women that I wanted to depict this month, much less clear pics...but I am trying my best.  

That being said, I found a photo of Erkah Badu- looked to be her senior photo.  It seemed fitting because her album, 'Baduizm', was released in February of 1997.  I was a freshman in college at ECU and spent many hours  in the art building (sometimes overnight!) working on my art.  I was really discovering who I was as a person as an artist.  I don't know if I can pick a favorite of that first album- I love them all.  So when I think of her music I think of long hours working on my art, the 2.5-3 hour trip back and forth between home and college and just one my my favorite times in my life- and places.

​The graceful, groundbreaking Misty Copeland

When I was little I always wanted to take dance- to be a dancer.  We never had the money for that- or transportation.  It was just me and mom for much of the first part of my life, and she worked second, sometimes third shift.  I never wanted for anything but things like dance classes just weren't in the cards for me.  Later in high school I would get a chance to cheer and then coach and judge, which allowed me to be around the cheer and dance that I loved so much, but not as a kid.

Dance moves me.  (pun fully intended!) I am often moved to tears watching all forms of dance, the grace and athleticism of the dancers is so awe-inspiring to me.  And Misty Copeland's story inspires me, how she beat all the odds and became the first African American principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre...which I know is a big deal...but watching her dance I just can't imagine how anyone ever questioned her ability.

(I included two pics from my 'Just Dance' series from May 2016 just for fun)
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​Author Alice Walker and Actress Phylicia Rashad

I chose Alice Walker based on the impact of her book The Color Purple, which I read in high school and have been haunted Celie's story ever since. 

Phylicia Rashad was another of my choices for my daily art...I wanted to pay homage to a lady that so many consider to be a mom-figure, even if it was just on the tv.  

​The beauty of Lupita Nyong'o

...she is just so beautiful to me- everything about her, the richness of her skin, the shape of hear face, her features- just everything.  I had seen her in various fashion magazines but I remember really being amazed by her at the Oscars in the pearl Prada gown- so much so that I included her in my 'Bee Mine'  series, or my version of her anyway.  I really struggled with my new drawing of her, once again working from a blurry photograph, which was challenging.  I really wanted to play up the rich darks of her skin with my pencil, water soluble graphite and watercolor mix...but I think I was still unsure of myself in my approach.   I can see my struggles in the image and it didn't come across like what I had envisioned, but I am happy with the eyes in the piece.

​Zora Neale Hurston...she stole my heart.

I feel like I have dedicated a few blog posts to the fabulous Zora Neale Hurston...at least one pretty in depth one which I cannot locate.  In the meantime, here are two previous posts related to the late, great Zora (and then my two images from her on my first GT series and the current series);

 https://www.jenniferlovegironda.com/blog/colooooooor-struuckkkk (2013)

www.jenniferlovegironda.com/blog/happy-birthday-zora (2014)

​...and then there was Amy Sherald.

 How amazing is it that Amy Sherald and Kehinde Wiley are the first African American artists to be commissioned to paint portraits of the POTUS and FLOTUS for the National Portrait Gallery?!

This is important.

This matters.

This should not have taken this long.

Sorry- just thinking out loud.  Whatever 'side of the aisle' you are on, I would think you could still that history is being made, and I feel like the comments Michelle Obama made on Instagram pretty much sum it up;
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​This piece was another tough one for me because I was working from a #TBT photo the artist posted and it was kind of blurry since I was just focusing on the face.  Instead of letting it get me frustrated I played on the blur as a softer line quality.  

To think, this little girl in the picture would grow up to paint the FLOTUS!