Happy Day!
I am so grateful to the folks who came out for my birthday celebration held at Very Raub Studios. It was a really great night and an homage to Robert Welch, who has been a huge supporter of mine.
We went with a 1960s theme and we held a fun contest where the people with the most interesting outfits got paintings. Desiree Story won “Basquiat Lives” (shown in this photo right behind her).
By the way, Raub Welch’s nickname for me is “Little Basquiat.” At the event, Thomas Burrell won “Raub Welch Did It First.”
The show centered on people I call superheroes or Black heroes – people who influenced me and whose style you can see reflected in my personality and my work. It was an intimate gathering of art appreciators and was a huge day for me because, viewing the work, Raub Welch told me he could see that I’ve really grown as an artist and it’s time to see my work in museums and more galleries.
That was really my full-circle moment. It meant so much to me.
I’ve been interested in Black superheroes for a long time, and one of the first pieces I ever sold was of Muhammad Ali. That led to me meeting his cousin who introduced me virtually to his son, who also now has one of my Ali pieces.
Coming back to this theme in my artistry and inviting people closest to me for this event really meant so much to me and it made me so excited about looking forward to presenting this body of work in a major way.