Artist Spotlight: The Pairabirds – Art by Tabitha Bianca Brown

I’ve admired The Pairabirds shop almost from my first day of joining Etsy.  I remember doing a search for African American art, wondering if anyone else was offering art like mine and then I came across Tabitha’s work.  I loved it instantly and to me it was hip and cool and bold in a way that really encouraged me to confident and bold with my own work.

Tabitha Bianca Brown studied art at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Illinois and whilst there, she received a BFA in Illustration.  Her work is a mixture of styles including 70s soul funk, noir and minimalism.  She has been featured on many popular design blogs including Modish, Decor8 and Design Milk.

Here are my favourite illustrations from her collection:

Hello, Stranger (Graphite Portrait) 8×10 Reproduction Art Print © Tabitha Bianca Brown 2012

These graphite drawings were the first ones to catch my eye when I came across Tabitha’s work.  I love this image because of the brown speckled paper and Tabitha’s simple and effective drawing of the couple.  Can you tell they’re into each other? I love the minimalist style and I admire how so much can be portrayed with a few well placed lines and highlights.  I just love it.

March Portrait (Mixed Media) 8×10 Art Print © Tabitha Bianca Brown 2011

Big afro hair is one of the things I love most about Tabitha’s work and she hasn’t even drawn the whole afro but you just know it’s huge right?  I like how you know it’s there without her having actually drawn it!  I especially love the use of different blends of colours that help to portray the skin tone.

Yearbook Rosa Portrait 8×10 Art Print © Tabitha Bianca Brown 2012

This image is a part of Tabitha’s Yearbook Series where she creates portraits of characters who are sitting to have their yearbook photos taken.  It’s a really interesting series because of the many different characters we meet and the hint at their personalities and maybe future lives and careers.  The art has been cleverly created by using layers of hand drawn illustrations, digital drawings and scanned papers.

I’ll probably be a lifetime admirer of Tabitha’s work as it always, always inspires me!  Be sure to keep up to date with her new work  on her website, her blog, her facebook page and you can follow her on twitter too.

Artist Spotlight – Julie Suzanne Original Art

The thing I like best about Julie Suzanne’s artwork are the delightful colours.  I find them so calming and refreshing and her art is always instantly recognizable to me whenever I see it.  This is something I aspire to as an artist myself.

Julie grew up surrounded by art because her father is also an artist and she enjoyed playing and drawing in his studio in her childhood.  As you will see, her art is inspired mostly by nature and nature’s colours.

Here are a few of my favourites from her current collection of work:

‘Days Pass By’ Original watercolour & ink illustration © Julie Suzanne 2012

I love the shade of pink used.  The white buds look lovely against it and I love all the fine details of the illustration too.  I would be happy to have this framed and hung on one of the walls in my home.

‘Purple Flowers’ Original watercolur & ink illustration © Julie Suzanne 2012

 The flowing watercolour background is so lovely and soft and the flowers have such personality, don’t you think?

‘The Morning Passed’ Original watercolour & ink illustration © Julie Suzanne 2012

I would dearly love to step into this illustration, sit under that tree and watch as the morning passed.  Look at that gorgeous sky!

To see more of her work such as art pendants and notecards, you can check out Julie Suzanne’s website here and her Etsy shop here.