What inspired the Zodiac paintings?

Oct 10

I invite you to take your time with each piece. In the following blogcast episode, I will share some of my influences and inspirations that helped to bring the zodiac goddesses to life.

Listen, watch, or read long. Enjoy!

ARIES

Aries' element is fire, so I had to bring the heat! I used reds, oranges, yellows in all of the fire signs paintings to represent this element. Considering Aries' archetype of the ram, I wanted to represent this animal through the spiral pattern in her braided hair.

Aries is super special to me. Not only is she the first sign of the zodiac, but also my mom is an Aries. I love the confident, bold energy of Aries. I wanted this goddess to embody this glamorous, luxurious energy - wearing a large chain and diamond earrings.

TAURUS

My favorite part in the Taurus painting is her sunglasses. They are actually transparent to the foreground. I had to create the portrait around her sunglasses so that the image would show through. It makes me feel like her past is influencing her present but doesn't define it. Since she is the 1st earth sign, I wanted to tie in plant elements like the leaves and flowers. I had so much fun creating different hair styles for the goddesses. Her box braids are some of my favorite. The horns that frame this entire piece is a representation of the Taurus archetype: the bull.

GEMINI

Since Gemini is representative of my personal sign, I had to make her the largest painting of them all! I had fun playing with the idea of the 'good twin' vs the 'bad twin'. Here we have the bad twin whispering to her sweet sister trying to persuade her into mischief. The good twin mulling over her thoughts and genuinely considering the wild side for a change - a duality and fine balance of the good and the bad.

The air signs included elements like wings, clouds, and sunset color palettes. My favorite collection to create. (How many times will I say something is my favorite?!)

CANCER

Swimming in the murky depths of emotion, this water sign goddess isn't afraid to go deep. Cancer's archetype is the crab which lurks at the bottom of the sea. My moon and rising sign is in Cancer; maybe that's why I don't like small talk, I cry at the drop of a dime, and immediately adopt maternal instincts for people, plants, and pesto! I just love the sensuality of this piece with the arch of her back and the red of her lips. One of my favorite details to paint were her bubbles - so much fun!

LEO

Leo is personally one of my favorite goddesses. She has one of the most impressive poses and presences I've ever painted. Her crawling feline position make her the most unique of the bunch. As it should be for the Leo, who is ruled by the Sun. Leo is the only zodiac sign that is ruled by a star, the center of our solar system. She desires all her shine. I went on Leo rant in the video lol!

VIRGO

My favorite thing to paint on Virgo was her hair. I spent a lot of time on her curls. She has such a peaceful calm energy about her that I was very intentional in creating. She's definitely grounded, rooted, and has an organized energy of a Virgo. I loved incorporating the fireflies in the background of this piece. When I was a kid I used to love going to my aunt's house and catching fireflies. A starry night you can touch.

LIBRA

Libra has such a grace about her that I really wanted to embody in her pose and position. I intentionally made the base of her dress to mimic the peaks of a mountain top. I had so much fun painting the crystal geode scales - definitely making her the most representative of her sign. I think I was listening to Nicki Minaj while painting her. Even though Nicki is a Sag, this Libra is serving Barbie vibes!

SCORPIO

'Champagne Papi' aka Drake inspired me for this piece. Not only is he a Scorpio, but so is my husband Andy! Floating in champagne bubbles, Scorpio was a labor of love; painting each individual bubble was pure insanity. By the time I got to 100 bubbles, I stopped counting!

SAGITTARIUS

Almost halfway through painting the zodiac the series I realized that none of the goddess had the style of hair that I have - locs. So I decided to give Sagittarius beautiful, blue locs with laid baby hair! Sag is one of the signs that can be represented as the centaur or the archer. The archer archetype inspired me for this painting hence why she has a quill strapped to her back. One of my favorite things to paint on her were the feathers of her quill. I gave her some bamboo earrings as a nod to old school Hip Hop.

CAPRICORN

Around the time I finished Capricorn was the same time I was working on Seattle's BLM mural. Capricorn directly inspired the chains in the 'V'. This snow queen was one of my favorites to create considering I explored so much new subject matter. White eye lashes, a West African kufi hat, an ice throne: this piece stretched me in so many beautiful ways. And of course, she is adorned in more chains than any other sign.

AQUARIUS

Fun fact: Aquarians and Geminis make great friends! One of my favorite artist duos is Outkast. They have an album called Aquemini - which is the combination of Aquarius and Gemini.

I had recently gotten back from Ghana the year before painting this piece - with my Aquarian friend! Seeing the women carrying water and baskets on their heads was a major influence for this zodiac who is represented as the "water barrier".