Water Spirit Art Musings

Turning 50 has brought a different kind of reflection. Not the kind that looks back with regret, but the kind that asks, “Who am I now, really? The last few years have reshaped my life in ways I didn’t expect. I lost my mom. I embraced my art. I got engaged, then lost that relationship. I started prioritizing my health, and then drifted away from it. I went back to school. My daughters became adults and moved out. So much has changed in such a short time. And somewhere in all of that, I started thinking less about the roles I’ve played, and more about me as a person. I’ve always known certain things about myself. I am intelligent. I am creative and capable. I have depth, emotional awareness, and a genuine kindness toward others. I’ve built a life that is stable and meaningful. But I’ve also come to a quieter, more uncomfortable truth: I’ve spent years calibrating myself for other people’s comfort. Softening my intelligence. Downplaying my presence. Holding parts of myself back so I wou...

 I'm laying here in bed reminiscing and enjoying the silence. Thankful for reaching this milestone birthday. I immensely enjoyed my day at the Georgia Aquarium yesterday being awed by the magnificence of life.  As a Pisces and former oceanography major, aquariums are my favorite places to visit. I overall loved the feel and layout of this one. I enjoyed the belugas and the dolphins as always. I saved the Ocean Voyager room for last because it's the one I really wanted to experience.  One of my favorite unexpected things was the bioluminescence exhibit. I couldn't capture it because you're not supposed to use phones in there, and honestly it would take away from the moment of just being present. There are millions of bioluminescent dinoflagellates in the ceiling above you, and randomly a ripple would cause them to light up. I stood with my back against the wall and just looked up at the ceiling for about 20 minutes. Most people just walked through, but it was the perfect...

What Cannot Be (series) work in progress Black women are not merely shaped by the world, we are structural to it. What Cannot Be Forgotten embodies lineage. The figure becomes a living tree, her ancestors the roots that sustain her continual growth. It speaks to memory not as a burden, but as foundation... a living connection to those who came before, sustaining what stands today. What Cannot Be Moved reflects the strength and resilience of Black women whose stability has been forged through endurance rather than spectacle. She is so deeply grounded that the forces around her yield first: the earth lifts, water shifts, even gravity gives way before she breaks. It is an image of presence... of standing fully in the now, unshaken and immovable. What Cannot Be Contained explores the sacred nature of Creation: an energy that moves through the body but does not originate from it or belong solely to it. The figure stands as both vessel and origin, releasing what cannot remain unseen, unma...

I am fortunate enough to have a career that allows me to work from home most of the time. Last week though, I was in the office talking with a coworker when another woman walked up, grabbed my hair and said, "oh your hair is so cute!" I immediately jerked my head away and said, "Thank you, but don't touch my hair." She looked surprised. "Don't touch your hair?" I didn't hesitate. "NO… Don't touch my hair." I love changing my hairstyle. Unfortunately this wasn't the first time I've had to say that at work. I've had someone walk up to me and squeeze my afro puff. Someone else touched the beads in my braids. None of it was malicious, but that doesn't make it okay. It shouldn't happen at all. First and foremost, touching anyone without permission is inappropriate, especially in the workplace. Second, I am a person - not an object, not a curiosity, and not a pet. Microaggressions like this still happen, ...

I was born under the sign Pisces, so I tend to have my head in the clouds…a lot. I’m an artist and a dreamer, so when I was tasked to write about current events, I put my head back and looked towards the sky. Not because I’m unaware of what’s happening around us day to day. I’m deeply aware. I just don’t feel compelled to give it my voice. Instead, I turn my attention towards the stars. Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope detected molecules that could be the earliest building blocks of life in a nearby galaxy. Small organic compounds – things like benzene and methane – that have never been observed before outside of the Milky Way. Traces of carbon-based materials too. I’ll stop there before the science gets too dense (and before I start sounding like someone much more qualified – Hi, Neil deGrasse Tyson). But the astronomy nerd in me can’t help being completely fascinated. What fascinates me? A love of science that spans as far back as I can remember. One of the first gifts I ...

  After high school, I decided to take a well‑deserved break from my formal educational pursuits. I was a fairly quiet, introverted kid, and the years that followed became less about academics and more about becoming myself.  I worked hard on coming out of my shell. I leaned into my truth. I embraced every inch of my exquisite weirdness. That journey led me straight into studying Wicca and fully committing to a goth aesthetic. In the mid‑90s, I didn’t know any Black goths, so I was, quite literally, an anomaly.  I tried two different colleges. Neither felt like home. Eventually, I enrolled in a business school and chose Digital Media Communications as my major because I’d been online since 1996 and was deeply in love with the chaotic novelty of the internet.  I was 24 years old in 2000 and several years older than most of my classmates...and the difference felt massive. The gap wasn’t just age; it was worldview, life experience, and energy. In public speaking class, ...