A Never Ending Plight - 2020 Black Tears

Exhaustion During the Resistance

Over the past week I have found myself to be exhausted. I’ve had insomnia. I’ve had moments where I’ve wanted to curl into the tiniest of ball and disappear. I’ve become excessive in keeping up to date with what’s going on in our world during these troubling times. COVID-19 and the consistent terror against black bodies throughout the United States of America feels never ending. I’ve had moments where I just burst into tears or hold my head in my hands and close my eyes very tight. I can feel the stress in my temples. A deep hurt in my heart from the pain of seeing black women, men, and children fighting, screaming, demanding justice BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY! Our POC and white allies marching aside us and getting retaliated against pains me. Seeing that baby girl screaming violently after being pepper sprayed by police in Seattle, milk being thrown over her face to stop the pain, hurts me.

I can’t unsee George Floyd’s death. I can’t unsee the police tear gassing and beating peaceful protesters with their shields and batons. I can’t unsee Trump, with his bitch ass, being a horrible leader of our “free” nation. Trump using extreme force on our own citizens. The media being detained.

I feel so much anger of the whitesplaining. So much anger from racists comments about black people, about us, about me! So much anger from friends and family who support force used against black bodies, who care more about looting of businesses than human bodies. Those who have the privilege of not being affected by anything that is happening. Frustrated of those who are going on as business as usual. Mad as hell at those who twist historical figures and narratives to make them feel safe and confident in their USA.

Coping with Trauma and Injustice

To cope, I decided to pick up the brush. As Nina Simone once said, “An Artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times. I think that is true of painters, sculptures, poets, musicians. As far as I’m concerned, it’s their choice, but I CHOOSE to reflect the times and situations in which I find myself. That, to me, is my duty. And at this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when everyday is a matter of survival, I don’t think you can help but be involved. Young people, black and white, know this…So I don’t think you have a choice. How can you be an artist and NOT reflect the times? That to me is the definition of an artist.”

The first piece in this series of work is called “2020 Black Tears”. I wanted to explore unfamiliar mediums during this time of unrest. Gouache, acrylic paint pens, and ultra matte medium. I hearkened back to one of the first creative works I explored as an adolescent, wood carving. I was inspired by some of the artwork from the Black Panther Party and old black political artwork. Instead of getting wood and bringing my carving tools out, I did some color blocking on heavy watercolor paper and worked away at the piece with acrylic pens of various sizes.

This piece speaks to the constant pain I’ve felt this week. Just trying my best to maintain, be the proud black woman that I am, and support my people through this crisis and injustice. I hope you enjoy this new series of work. Power to the people. - Sade

2020 BLACK TEARS

Gouache, Acrylic, & Paint Pen on Watercolor Paper

Sade DuBoise Studio Puzzles - Update

After weeks of working on Sade DuBoise Studio puzzles I’ve reached a standstill.

Right after finalizing the beautiful designs Major and I worked on, it was time to put the puzzles into production and test the product. However, the company I thought was based in the USA was actually based in China. Wanting to support a USA puzzle company, I had to find other options. After doing more research it would take $60-80 to produce one puzzle in the states. So for the moment, producing my limited edition puzzles has paused.

In the meantime, look at these puzzle box designs for the puzzles I would’ve been producing (I almost cried when I saw these)!

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In the meantime I have been looking into making my own puzzles and tinkering around in the wood shop. All I would need is the scroll saw, drill, and sander to cut out the pieces. So I’m going to purchase the equipment on Monday and get started! I’ve been really inspired with Stave and Chris Yates puzzles along with Kehinde Wiley’s stained glass pieces. I look forward to sharing my puzzle progress soon!

Expressex Journals Are Here!!!

Finally! Expressex Journals are now here for pre-order through May 15th, 2020!

At the peak of COVID-19 I found myself reflecting and writing a lot more often. I had just been furloughed from my construction job and had a lot more time to think and write. As I was journaling, I realized that this would be the perfect time to figure out how to publish and produce my own journals for others to write in and enjoy. There is something about getting a fresh journal with a dope affirmation of art on the cover. These are those!

How Did I Make Them?

For fellow artists out there looking to produce their own journals, hopefully this will give you the information and a great place to start your journey.

• Cover - What makes my journals different from others out there is the original artwork that adorns the covers. When I decided to make Expressex Journals, the covers were the first thing I started on. With my process, I first thought about what I wanted the collection to represent. Desert Flowers, the name of my first collection, represents surviving and thriving in harsh conditions. For me it was a metaphor for the current crises we’re in. The beautiful flowers bursting forth from cacti and other plants represents our beauty. There is nothing more beautiful to me than a good story of vulnerability and overcoming, and turning that into a spectacle of success and triumph. I get asked a lot about where I source some of my paintings portraits from. I take a lot of references from Pinterest. But not just any portrait. I take a lot of time to sort out compositions I’m in love with and the feeling I get from looking at the eyes. Wherever you get your source of inspiration as an artist, use that for the covers on your journals to create something unique for others to write in.

• Once I painted the covers I sent them to Pushdot Studio for captures. Pushdot Studio takes my paintings and either scans or photographs them. I get the digital files and then those are used for my various products such as fine art prints and journals.

• Now that the covers were done I focused on the guts of my journals. I used Canva, Word, and Google Docs. I’ve never like journals with too little or too many pages. I find satisfaction in completing journals, and ones that don’t let me finish my collective thoughts or go on too long bother me - so I put 97 pages of lined papers in my journals, enough for 1-3 months of consistent writing.

• Now that I had the guts and cover complete, I was ready to take my journal to print. There are many different online and local options for printing. Recently I found out about Independent Publishing Resource Center, a PDX local publishing company and studio, which provides affordable access to space, tools, and resources for creating independent media and artwork. You can check them out here.

If you need your own journal(s) and would like to support a Black and Female ran studio, you can purchase your own journal or the entire collection set here.

The Black Muses Project - Behind the Logo

I’ve gotten many questions on the Black Muses logo, so decided to take out the time to blog about why I chose this logo, what it symbolizes, and more! So let’s dive into the Black Muses logo.

Once I got about two weeks into the project, scheduling and corresponding with muses, traveling for photo shoots, video recording my experience, selecting and editing photos for references in the paintings, video recording muse’s stories, and getting canvas prepped for paint, I thought to myself that it was time to start looking into a logo for the project.

For those of you who have been around since 2017, you’ll know that my official logo is a silhouette of a woman with the cutout of a black fluid circle around her. It symbolizes for me strength, beauty, and blackness.

My go to designer is Major Media Co. Major and I started our businesses around the same time and have been riding together ever since. We went to Portland State University together, and now he is based in New York. I trust his eye and with all of my design needs. All I did was give Major some of my initial ideas, and he did the rest. Along the way I provided my input and he took it to re-haul my official logo into the Black Muses logo.

The elements I added were roses, vines, and leaves. The roses symbolize Portland, beauty, and being revered/looked at/treasured. Being born and raised in PDX, the City of Roses, roses were fitting. Roses seemed most fitting for this project which has a lot of beautiful black women involved, and whom I see all as beautiful and unique in their own ways.

The vines and leaves symbolize the natural and wild beauty of Oregon. The backgrounds in all of my muse reference photos are natural Oregon parks, beaches, lookouts, & forests. The silhouette is enclosed within the leaves, which is the composition I look for in my paintings.

Look out for the Black Muses logo on all Black Muses products! If you’d like to add to your collection, you can purchase the first print that inspired the Black Muses Project here.

Zanele Inspires the Black Muses Project!

We Are Here.

I called Zanele excited about an opportunity to put her piece in the Portland Building in Downtown, Portland. I was working with RACC on the Portland Building project and they wanted to find a piece of mine to add to their “social diversity of Portland” collection. I was honored!

I remember Zanele answering the phone and asking, “who is this?” I could hear a tiredness in her voice. She travels often, runs her own business, and has a husband and new puppy to tend to. I told her it was Sade and the news about the Portland Building.

She was so excited! Hearing the excitement in someones voice, is one of the best things in this world for me - hearing the high pitch of pure joy, surprise, and excitement from someones voice when you tell them great news reminds me of the song Levitate by Kendrick Lamar. We ended the conversation with me asking her to send me photos of her in traditional dress and she said she was on it. We said our goodbyes and I hurried back to the office from my 15 minute break (during the day I work as a steamfitter apprentice).

Zanele

Inspiration behind the Black Muses Project

Purchase this Fine Art Print

After a solid week and over 36 hours of painting, this beauty came about. For any other aspiring artists out there working a 9-5 job, I found it best to put myself under pressure by giving myself a deadline and doing whatever possible to meet or exceed it. I gave myself a week to finish this piece and worked on it before work, after work, and before and after my classes (I attend 290 Tech for my apprenticeship). I got a lot of help around the house from my husband who allowed me the grace to paint while he cooked dinner, cleaned, and the such.

Please stay tune for more information about Zanele and her original acquisition. In the meantime, I will be building the Black Muses Project.