Water Spirit Art Musings

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, ...