Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Latifah Shay - 'A Colorful Soul'


Warfordsburg, Pa., artist Latifah Shay will exhibit "A Colorful Soul' at The Muse this month, but whose soul she's referencing depends on the painting.

The longtime artist and graphic designer turned her interest to abstract acrylic pieces recently and said she feels her paintings are revelatory.

"I feel I connect with myself very deeply when I do art," she said. "I feel like things are revealed.

" For example, she worked on a group of paintings when she was pregnant and "could tell one of the images was the soul of the baby," she said.

Turns out, she gave birth to triplets - minor technicality.

Circles recur in her pieces but aren't related to anything specific, she said. "They're more of a movement or expression. ... Usually I just move with what I feel. ... Afterwards, I connect with the art. I'm usually suprised."

She will attend the opening reception from 5 to 9 p.m. at The Muse and give demonstrations of her techniques working with small collages and paintings.

Throughout her life, she went through artistic spurts, she said, when she'd produce several pieces over a short period of time, then stop for a while.

"I never knew why," she said.

There were no artists in her family.

She studied architecture at Texas A&M University but found herself wanting a more creative outlet. She went on to study graphic design and became a designer specializing in web design and flash animation.

She continued to return to her personal paintings, though, realizing they were what gave her satisfaction.

She began working with mostly that and showed her work for the first time a year ago.

Art "was something that had always been inside me," she said. "After having my children, I wanted to do something for myself. ... I'm happy to be here."

by Lauren LaRocca
The Frederick News-Post (MD)

Friday, September 4, 2009

Thank you Lauren for the interview.
I would just like to comment and correct something that was said in the first paragraph: actually "A Colorful Soul" refers to me and my soul.
Thank you
Latifah


4 comments:

  1. The article is great exposure. Congratulations! misprints/misinfo happens so often, once I got 5 years added to my age...:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Claudia,
    Thank you very much. It feels good to get out there in print; it's my first interview. :)
    Nice to meet you, thanks for the comment, I've joined your blog... Look forward to hearing more about you.
    :) Latifah

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  3. Congratulations on your interview. It was very interesting. I love to read about art being meaningful to people - how and why!
    Keep up the great work!
    Joan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Joan.
    I appreciate your comments...
    Take care, Latifah

    ReplyDelete

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