We Make Art
January 31st 2021 - March 12th 2021
Celebrating Make Studio’s Black Artists
Make Studio is a 501(c)3 community-based arts organization in Baltimore, MD, envisioning a world of acceptance and inclusion where art opens doors for everyone. They empower artists with disabilities to grow as professionals with visibility and voice in their communities. OCA Mocha is so happy to be collaborating with Make Studio to feature fourteen of their Black artists in celebration of Black History Month and the impact their art makes on the community all year round.
– Curated by Madeline Arbutus, Visual Art & Media and Communication Studies UMBC 2022
Special thanks to Make Studio’s Program & Exhibitions Associate, Rosie Eck, for helping make this gallery possible.
To learn more about Make Studio and the artists, check out their website here.
Kareem Samuels
It’s a Wonderful Life, 2020, 24” x 30’’, Acrylic and marker, $125
Bible Boy Comic, 2016, 21” x 26”, Mixed media, $110
Kareem Samuels is an expert in doing portraits of himself, friends and family, celebrities, and superheroes, both of his own creation and otherwise. He uses watercolor, acrylic, and more, to colorfully share the positive and spiritual messages of his heroic alter ego, “Bible Boy.” Kareem is also a budding food blogger, documenting his many colorful meals in photographs and in drawings. Kareem joined Make Studio within our first few programming years and says that being part of an art studio community is “my dream come true.”
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Erika Clark
Yellow Flame, 2014, 14” x 18’’, Mixed media on wood, $95
This depicts rebirth and the energy that you send off in your life. This composition is about the majesty of life, the figurative and the fantastic.
Cosmic Egg, 2018, 24” x 21”, Mixed media, $155
The cosmic egg depicts the creation of life. All 3 of my pieces in this show are demonstrations of the beginning of life.
Bonsai Forest, 2019, 16.5” x 22”, Acrylic and ink, $130
This is a picture of nature as it is, finding and appreciating the fantastic with the mundane. Nature can be really weird! Just as a lot of sci fi comes from reality, I get fantastical ideas from a lot of places... especially the deep, dark sea.
Erika Clark tends to use watercolor, acrylic, and colored pencil, and says that she “dabbles” in ink, oil pastel, sculpting, and digital art. Her artwork is often inspired by anime, manga, and, more recently, science fiction. She also likes to explore abstract concepts. She defines her style as “tending to focus on layering color and form and having an ethereal atmosphere.” In her spare time, Erika enjoys playing video games, cooking, brewing her own kombucha, reading, and listening to music like symphonic metal. She joined Make Studio in 2012.
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Nadine Baldwin
Untitled, 2019, 27’’ x 19’’, Mixed media, $175
Nadine Baldwin joined Make Studio in 2017, but has always been, in her own words, a “creative creature.” Coming from a family of artists, she likes to dabble in everything from sewing and clothing design, to writing poetry, to interior design, and artworks on paper and canvas. “I put spirit and soul into my paint and canvases. I put my own spin on. I can take anything and make it look spectacular.” Nadine spends a lot of time in her “studio nest” she designed at home. Also a lover of nature, Nadine enjoys taking her sketchbook outside with her to work as well as gathering natural materials like wood, stones, and feathers to add to her artworks. She is a “low residency” artist with Make Studio in Baltimore, bringing finished and almost finished pieces to the studio in order to consult with our staff about final finishes and presentation strategies.
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Chuck Fischer
Of Wolves and Men, 2020, 18” x 22’’, Mixed media, $130
I saw “Dancing With Wolves” and that inspired this piece.
Tiger Abstract Lady, 2019, 18” x 22”, Mixed media, $110
I like tigers and I think women are powerful.
Chuck Fischer enjoys sculpting, painting with acrylics and oils, embroidery, and drawing with charcoal and pastels. He loves watching the news, studying history and other cultures, and is inspired by people, landscapes, and his imagination. He has been an artist with Make Studio since 2013. Chuck laughs easily and often!
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Dontavious Woody
Beyonce and Jay-Z at the Grammys, 2016, 21” x 24’’, Colored pencil and oil pastel, $175
AIO Presidente, 2017, 22” x 26”, Mixed media, $150
Dontavious Woody is inspired by fashion, African American artists and performers, design, and high contrast compositions he finds in magazine images and online. He increasingly employs dense layering a mixture of media, including colored pencil, markers, and paint. Woody finds making art to be relaxing and pleasurable, as he likes working with people in the studio. Having worked as an artist for some time in the community with an artist-mentor, Woody joined Make Studio at the start of 2013.
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Zach Manuel
Autumn Horse/Abstract Horse, 2018, 30’’ x 24’’, Mixed media, $185
I Want Kids Someday, 2019, Acrylic and paint marker, 19’’ x 19’’, $120
Zach Manuel is influenced by a strong interest in comics, animation, and science fiction. A man with many goals in fine and digital art, Zach has diligently expanded his artistic repertoire beyond colored pencils and markers (which he still uses with great skill today), to become skilled in various media and techniques. He now draws his inspiration from animation as well as real life, and often weaves reflections about art-making, dreams, emotional states, and his personal experiences of autism into his artwork. Zach is a graduate of the Harbor School and joined Make Studio in 2012.
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Greg Bannister
Partial Shade Flower I, 2012, Acrylic on canvas, 16’’ x 20’’, $100
Amidst Falling Leaves, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 16’’ x 20’’, $200
Greg Bannister is a prolific painter who began pursuing his craft as a young man, and he has for many years been inspired by modernist masters such as Matisse and Picasso. He is so devoted to art that when not working full-time at Harmony Bakery in Hampden, Greg is constantly painting at home. He is a “low residency” artist with Make Studio, bringing finished and almost finished pieces to the studio in order to consult with our staff about final finishes and presentation strategies. We are proud to be an authorized agent for his art sales, and to work with a person we think of us as “the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.”
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Jeremy Foster
The Dragon King, 2019, Colored pencil, 22’’ x 26’’, $125
Jeremy Foster joined Make Studio in 2019, after moving to Abingdon, MD. Though he can’t remember exactly when, he says he started drawing in 3rd grade or possibly even earlier, using crayons to make his pictures. These days he uses markers and colored pencils for his art, often depicting animals or magical things. Though he keeps to himself often, Jeremy is open-minded about talking with others. In his free time, he draws inspiration from playing video games and watching anime with magical or romance themes. He is also fascinated by Asian mythology, especially stories of Japanese monsters, called yokai, which he often includes in his work.
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Jerry Williams
ESS ENTERPRISE NX-01, 2018, Mixed media, 19’’ x 21.5’’, $125
Baroness Starcade, 2014, Mixed media, 22’’ x 26’’, $100
Jerry Williams has been a prolific artist for as long as he can remember, filling page after page with drawings and paintings of his favorite subjects. His favorites include superheroes, circus performers, wrestlers, all things Star Trek, and many more... Jerry completed a large format 2017 calendar as tribute to the closing of Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bai-ley, after having hosted not just one but TWO Ringmasters at the studio over the past few years. Not shy around celebrities, Jerry has also met John Waters, former Governor Martin O’Malley, and many current and former Baltimore politicos and news broadcasters. He now wants to meet former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland. As much as he loves to paint and draw, he also enjoys sculpture using found materials and has demonstrated his personal technique for papier-mâché to students, teachers, and community members of all ages. Jerry was Make Studio’s very first program artist! A graduate of the St. Elizabeth School, he currently works in landscaping and grounds maintenance when not at Make Studio.
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Julian Hinmon
Teen Titans F Family, 2018, Watercolor and sharpie, 17’’ x 21’’, $105
Wakanda, 2019, Mixed media, 17’’ x 15’’, $80
Julian “Jules” Hinmon recalls that he has always been interested in how art tells a story, and started his art practice in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s. He at first used construction paper and pencil to draw Pokémon and his personal life experiences during his childhood. He joined Make Studio in 2016. Jules takes great passion in his artwork and really enjoys the creative process. One day he hopes to have his own animated series, comic book series, and museum. Jules is willing to work in any art format and has already experimented with digital art and lots of 2-D media. Outside his time in the studio, Julian enjoys dancing (by himself or with others), reading, watching cartoons, playing Nintendo videogames, drawing, and seeing movies in theaters. His imagination, his childhood, the personalities of women he knows and looks up to, and cartoons inspire all of Julian’s work.
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Seth Jackson
Emotion, 2020, Mixed media, 17’’ x 24’’, $110
Tupack Shakur, Mixed media, 30’’ x 24’’, $135
Seth Jackson joined Make Studio in 2016, but recalls that he has been actively making art since 1991. In earlier days, Seth drew mostly stick figures but has come to love drawing comic book characters and celebrities in great detail using both traditional and digital drawing methods. He often finds inspiration online by looking at what other artists are working on. Seth says that he came to Make Studio so he could become “a superstar artist.” In his free time, Seth enjoys spending time with friends and family, listening to music, watching movies, and attending church regularly. He is a graduate of Kennedy Krieger Institute schools.
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Tyrone Weedon
Farewell Gemini: A Tribute to Prince, 2017, Mixed media, 22’’ x 26’’, $185
Michael Jordan & Seal: Fly Like an Eagle, 2014, Mixed media, 32’’ x 23’’, $150
Everybody wants to be like Jordan and fly like Jordan. The artwork said it itself.
Tyrone Weedon has developed his artistic talent since elementary school. His current artwork is strongly influenced by television, cartoons, movies and comic books; he often reflects on his childhood in his work, but likes to keep things topical, often creating celebrity “tributes” and statements with a political or public message included. He particularly likes to make art about superheroes, and about people that he sees in Baltimore and/or “thinks up in my head”. Aside from art, which is his main interest, he enjoys movies and the library for inspiration, playing video games, doing research on the internet, and spending time with his family. Tyrone is a graduate of Clifton Eastern High School and joined Make Studio in 2012.
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Louis Middleton
Muhammad Ali, 2016, Watercolor and ink, 30’’ x 26’’, $150
Muhammad Ali is a great fighter. He had Parkinson’s disease. I did a tribute to him using watercolor. It’s so sad he passed away.
Modern House, 2016, Acrylic and ink, 24’’ x 16’’, $125
It’s a pretty house - you can live there and go inside. It’s beautiful and has snow on the ground.
Besides being a devotee of all things retro and 1950s, Louis Middleton often gravitates towards epic landscape and portraiture, or a combination of the two, in his art. His landscapes cover a variety of scenes from tropical beaches to Baltimore City to snowy mountain ranges, and his portraits are often of celebrities he’s most interested in (e.g., country singers, U.S. Presidents, comedians). Besides painting, Louis has long enjoyed taking his own digital photographs. Outside of Make Studio and with the support of his family, Louis operates his own photo restoration business and has logged a number of satisfied customers in this work. Louis is a graduate of the St. Elizabeth School in Baltimore near his home in Owings Mills, MD.
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Iragi Lya Nkere
Warner Bros. World, 2020, Mixed media, 24’’ x 30’’, $125
Hamilton Nature, 2019, Mixed media, 18’’ x 24’’, $225
Iragi Lya Nkere, a native Baltimorean, joined Make Studio in 2018. He recalls that at the age of 9 he started making art for himself and others, often in the form of hand-drawn greeting cards. In his artwork he is inspired by cartoon characters and superheroes. He also loves to draw logos, and incorporates these into his compositions, and while he enjoys drawing in ink he has recently been using paint more frequently. Iragi is a graduate of Friendship Academy of Engineering and Technology, and currently works as a Courtesy Clerk at Shoppers when not working at the studio. In his free time he enjoys watching TV and sports, exercising, and, being a talented keyboardist, playing his favorite songs or holiday music.