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

New Art :: Three Collage Minis

Lightning bolt of delight strikes my heart
Happiness abounds
Daydreamy with joy
Happiness, poppies and floating dreams

Happiness
signed, dated 09 (on back)
acrylic, magazine collage and transfer on pressboard
5.75 x 7.75 in, framed
$75

The heart connecting
Love given
Friends - supporting & caring
Thoughtfulness
Feeling bad
Together
Watching, dreaming

The Heart Connecting
signed, dated 09 (on back)
acrylic, magazine collage and transfer, pencil on pressboard
5.75 x 7.75 in, framed
$75

Dynamic city vibe
Aspen, cold and sunny
Edgy graffiti
Through the snow
Falling laughter

Laughter in Snow
signed, dated 09
acrylic, magazine collage on pressboard
5.75 x 7.75 in, framed
$75

To Purchase Artwork: Contact Latifah Shay @ 707-327-8125 or artist@latifahshay.com

New Art: Love's Daydream

Love's Daydream; 16x20; acrylic, pencil on canvas; framed; $350

The enchantment of a dream. The power of love.
Tendrils of love delicately growing around me,
holding and supporting me, helping me to grow.
A beacon from my heart, showing me the way to go.
Opening my heart to the truth, offering me a drink
from Divine Wisdom - my cup runneth over.

Flowers floating along like daydreams.
A mother's pregnant belly, live moving downstream and out.
Shelter from the storm, a place inside my heart.
A sandpiper on the beach, waves washing upon the sand.

I didn't know what I was going to create when I started this painting. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. I could feel the deep yellow color in my heart. Once that was dry I just started drawing on the canvas in pencil. I had a marvelous time drawing. I came by drawing naturally, very early on. It felt so good to just draw. I haven't drawn before with the sole purpose of setting up a painting. Usually I just paint. Once the drawing was done however, I knew it was going to take some time to fill it in.
I filled in the white dots first, I could feel that much. I tried to work on the flowers next, and I did fill them in roughly, but I didn't like what I was doing. I left the flowers and went on to work with the swirly shapes. I loved the look of the blue-green over the marigold color, I found it exciting. I just kept going, kept on filling in the shapes. The painting began to have a balance of positive and negative, shape and detail. I painted the flowers at the very end, and they look just right.

I worked on this painting intensely. I spent 40 hours on it. I said to myself 5 days in a row, "I'm going to finish this tonight". Three layers of paint per color and lots of detail and edges. It was worth it. I love it.

NEW Feeling My Way; 16x20; acrylic and pencil on canvas; framed; $300.

For over 2 years now I have painted (etc.) almost exclusively abstracts. Artwork that has come from a deep desire and need to move through me. For the energy of the art to pour through me, to be released, with a piece of art being born in the process. Aside from last week's work, the only character to surface was the girl in the Mercy collage (April 2008).

Much of the work I did in 2002 had characters (children) in them. Most of them representing me in some way. I have included 2 examples here: Innocence Lost (left) and Ill Communication (right) (yes, referencing the Beastie Boys song).

Both the painting from today and the one from last week had people in them. With, of course, some degree of abstraction or stylization - I don't want to give up the abstract completely!

I am curious about the return of the figure as well as the again prominent use of drawing in my work. I have been feeling the need for color pop and contrast. For the Tryst show I was exploring tone-on-tone; enjoying the relationship, the kinship of the colors. I think I got that out of my system for a while. I am feeling energized and satisfied by painting with vivid color in very illustrative forms. Additionally, I see my emotions coming through these last two paintings in a more figuratively representational way. I feel good about this, happy and excited.

You may or may not know that I have 4-yr old triplets; two girls and one boy. We go to the library weekly and we read together daily. I love looking at the illustrations and reading the blurb about the artist. I am currently attracted to the illustration style of artist David Shannon. I was definitely aware of being opening to his style as I was painting today.

It feels so good to be trying something new and yet familiar at the same time.

Unity Music Festival

Lindsay Mac on her cello. Artwork by Latifah Shay.

Unity Music Festival

This past Saturday I attended the Unity Music Festival in Warfordsburg PA. This event is only in it’s second year, still in it’s infancy. Organized and promoted pretty much single-handedly by Camela Widad Kramer, the show served up an impressive array of musicians. My favorite was the Cello Fourtet; headbanging by way of the cello. They rocked. My other favorite new-to-me artist via the UMF is Lindsay Mac. This very feisty and funky girl played the cello as well, albeit like a guitar. Camela Widad Kramer is a singer-songwriter. She is a burgeoning musician, one with soul and guts. Find her music and give it a good listen. You won’t be sorry. For two years in a row my art has been used as the mainstage backdrop. Last year I painted a piece especially for the festival: a series of 4 panels, totaling 6x14’ painted on unstretched canvas. This year I used a 66x80” piece that I created in 2007, titled Perfection Spinning. This piece has been a long-time favorite of mine, still in my collection, deserving to be aired at every opportunity.