What does an artist look like?

I've posed this question toward the reader for one sole reason. I've been told on numerous occasions that I "look like an artist". So what exactly does an artist look like? At first I thought it was the tattoos. Yea, that must be it...tattoos equal artist. That has to be it. But no, that can not be it. People say this to me even when I am covered up. So what is it? And why is it that people can spot that I am an artist right away but struggle to identify my race? I find this phenomenon very amusing.

Racial Disparities

I am reading an article about race and class and how it affects the education system in America. This article focuses on urban education in particular. What defines urban education and how is it different from suburban? According to the piece it is defined by color. When we speak about diversity, we are referring to the integration of people of color into an area or in this case, school. So why do I bring this up on a site where I talk about art? Simple. It's the makeup of students on campus. It's the inadvertent segregation that is created by the students. It is also the fact that while I was enrolled in school as an undergrad I was told in front of my class that I would have a harder time as an artist because I was a person of color and I was female. It is also because I witness that minorities have a harder time receiving validation for the same effort put out by their peers. The talk I hear about integrating school is received poorly and why? Have people not let go of their prejudices yet ... the answer is no... and the canvas to me has become my new race. It defines me by an open array of color which no one can easily connect to me. Maybe then I will be treated equally instead of predisposed ideas are brought to the table and inhibits creation

Thrash 'Til Death

My most recent painting. This was painted for a friend. <3 .

refelection to thee

oh what i wouldn't do to be held in your arms
like restless wind whistling outside in the drifts of snow
memories plowed through the streets so empty
my mind confronted with tunes of sorrowful solitude
oh what i wouldn't give to lay my head onto a bed
whose springs supported our love so gentle
under nights forsaken path
where neither head nor toe knows which way we will go
the smell of your skin still settled in my sheets from not too long ago
where fermenting words still linger in your absence
for what i wouldn't do to hear you whisper i feel the same way too
and heed the mistakes that never came to pass
for we were a memory i never thought time would outlast

Poem for Sorrow

He left his fingerprints behind as evidence he had been here.
Scraping the reminder of his kiss from my tongue with the back of his lips.
How I longed for another one.
Pillows stacked in the drift of tangled bedsheets.
Warmth emanating from his flesh.
Mine curved into the pits and slopes of his side like a feeble kitten. Smitten.
His absence a scare.
Tears melding the nights shut.
I wish despair were a fortitude of I love you's, that way I could ignore his silence.
Metal scorching our ears like hot soup. Stealthily.
My appetite preceding the loss of his touch.

face value

what is the face value of art? i dont feel like people take into the same consideration the handmanship of fine arts as they do graphic arts. why is this? you are sure to make more money sitting behind a computer "making art" than using a paintbrush and paint on canvas. this baffles me. the digital age has desensitized peoples ideas of art. art is no longer skill and technique but rather advertising. who can sell an image faster and more efficiently. this saddens me

sculpting

when i was NYU getting my filling fixed by a dental student, i talked to the dentist, as i am sure most people do when they get work done on their mouth. for that matter, i think talking in general is common with any doctor. the doctor upon hearing that i went to school for art, said he wanted to see my art. i gave this no mind as most people say this in passing once they hear that your an artist. its normal. the difference here is, he brought this up multiple times while working on my teeth. sometimes at points where i could not respond because my mouth was pried open so he could reach the molar in the far back.... not fun. my mouth is tiny. amusingly he said 'i am a sort of artist as well. i sculpt'. staring at him, because there is no other place to look aside from maybe nostrils, i gave a perplexed look so he could elaborate.... 'i sculpt teeth, there is a sort of art to that no?'. even with my mouth ajar, i smiled and gave a slight nod. maybe he is right. maybe perception is a major part of art. society decides what is and what is not art just as much as the artist themselves.