My first successful paintings where based upon photographs taken by Marcus Slatter, fellow artist and colleague, while on vacation in Ghana. I was fascinated by his voyage to the continent of Africa and upon viewing his photographs painted a series of paintings. What was unique and why I call these painting successful is because for the first time I experimented with color theory directly applying it as I approached these paintings. They are very colorful and I mixed every color. I didn’t use black out of the tube I mixed colors to achieve the shadows and darker hues. They are mostly made up of dark indigo, brown, and greens. I also tried to emphasize the contrast making the highlights very bright and the shadows very dark. I look to masters like Caravaggio and Rembrandt for a reference. I also had the opportunity to paint very dark skin tones. I experimented with color to achieve the perfect tones to make aware the heat and atmosphere within the photograph. This color revolution took my artwork to another level. I started to look at paintings by fauvist and painting the next set of paintings one entitled "Whitley" and the other, "Tuesday". The colors are unnatural. The big round yellow faces reminiscent of fruit. The carefree color approach helped me to focus more on brush strokes. In the painting of "Whitely" I did it without a preliminary sketch and I loved the strokes but it was still of a photograph. I wanted to transform myself from the confinement of a picture. The painting of "Tuesday" is done while she sat for me. I didn’t ponder over color. I used color according to my emotions and the feeling set in the atmosphere. I set my attention instead on the flow of every brushstroke. In the painting of the African subject my strokes are very tight and almost invisible. The opposite is seen in the painting of "Tuesday". The strokes are very loose, deliberate and quick. I was forced to work very quickly. I loved it and was eager to attempt to incorporate everything that I had learned into one painting. I attempted this in the paintings of the Jamaicans. The two paintings are very labored but the brush strokes are more loose and visible than earlier paintings. The color is still vibrant but I used unusual color schemes to emphasis the heat, reflections, and shadows. The paintings were done of photographs but still owned the immediacy of a setting. I loved to get loose with the brush strokes and wanted to take it to another level. I have been experimenting with digital photos and I needed to work with them to gain the photos that I would paint from. I tried to paint some loose nonrepresentational paintings but the love of the human figure made me miss if from the works. I experimented the images on the canvas by photographing it and taking my photographs and overlapping it to combine my painting with a digital photograph. The end result is the photo called eve eve1 and eve2. My only problem was how to make these images as resilient as they appeared on the computer screen. So when I show them I print them on fabric with sheen to it and float it between to sheets of glass. I do that so the light will shine through and enhance the beauty of the image. I enjoy making and showing art.

Upon my graduation at Kentucky State University I have shown my digital photos at a show of digital photography in Louisville Kentucky at Zephyr gallery, and at Kentucky state university at show entitled up and Coming Artist of the Bluegrass. I’ve had three paintings excepted in a juried exhibit at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in Kentucky for the Annual African American Art exhibit. I belong to a group of artist called Gathering Artist in Danville Kentucky. Had a show at the Community arts center in Danville KY, and taught painting, drawing and color theory at the center. I was once again accepted in the Annual African American Art Exhibit where I won a merit award.

I would like to continue my career by attending scad Atlanta and getting my Masters. Learn and experiment with new approaches to painting. I would like to paint more with a palette knife, maybe achieve a more contemporary approach to the human figure. I would like for my painting to achieve a since of vibrancy, emotion, and motion. I would like to learn to make better use of plastic space. I am very serious about my commitment to achieving my academic goals.

Upon entering the art program at KSU there were a number of things lacking. The department was on a tight budget and only had three instructors and one was about to retire. It was important for me to receive what I need from the department in order to be a successful artist. I constructed petitions and spoke with the chairmen and department head about making vital changes to the department so that every student may achieve their goals. I was asked to sit on the council to hire new instructor as a student representative. The instructor that was hired Reba Rye has made many contributions to the department including grant writing that has supported a new digital art facility. My senior year I was given the arts and sciences leadership award and it was the first time the award was given to an art student.