sooo…ive enjoyed reading the book, Really Free: The Radical Art of Nellie Mae Rowe 💚💚💚

it is a thick book. but it is so thick due to there being so many fotos of nellie’s artwork. the actual text parts of the book arent that longwinded. 📚

Contents ~~~~

i learned so much about the life of nellie mae rowe. i feel like we share a lot in common. 👩🏿‍🎨

nellie was born in fayetteville, ga on july 4, 1900. 🇺🇸 i lived in fayette county at one point in my life so i think it is so fascinating that is where she grew up.

 

she didn’t really start making art until her late 60s. her artistic voice was always there, but she was often discouraged from pursuing art because more pertinent things needed to be done.

she is completely self taught. 👩🏿‍🎨

what i find most inspiring is that she was always able to fully express her thoughts and emotions in such a beautiful way. she was not intimidated by her lack of knowledge of classic art fundamentals. she just drew what she saw in her head. 🖌️

 

thats totally beautiful. i wanna draw how i see the world rather than what the world actually looks like or how others think the world should be.

she would often use found objects to create art. she enjoyed making art on flattened shoeboxes. 👠👠

she also created art with child like materials. she really enjoyed using markers, colored pencils, pencils, crayons, and pens. 🖍️✏️🖋️🖊️ when i looked at her art i liked picking out the different ballpoint pen marks she would make.

 

when i was in highschool, i remember making a drawing out of ballpoint pen. It was so relaxing. 

 

i really like how she uses all these mediums in one drawing. each one of her pieces expresses her luv for every medium. she also has this ability to emphasize certain objects based on what medium she is using.

 

i find it quite refreshing.

a lotta of her artwork displays her "praise hands" and other motifs.

she was a christian, so whenever she created pieces that show her hands, they were always praising something. 🙌🏿 one of my favorite pieces by her is called Untitled (Peace) plate 111. in it, her black hands with red nailpolish fingers are praising the blue lamb of God. 🙌🏿🐑

 

that drawing makes me so happy.
her name is a stylized part of her artwork. ✏️

instead of just writing her name tiny in the corner, nellie makes it apart of the composition. this is genius! i never did my name that way because i was always taught that wasnt allowed.

 

this truly inspired me because it shows she is taking personal pride in her work.

nellie's artwork helped her work through dreams and heavy emotions she was having 💚💚💚

she said a lotta of her artwork came from dreams she was having. she often imagined herself creating these different creatures with her fingers. 💭🤲🏿

 

she didn’t create depictions of slavery or the racial struggles of being black. “I have no energy to draw pictures about slavery times. It makes me feel sad. You must not think about those times because these are new days. (pg 32)” 

 

while she didn’t like drawing the experiences of the jim crow south, she did use her artistic talents to create works about the missing children in atlanta between 1979 – 1981.

nellie luved her "play house" 🏡

her house became a staple to everyone in georgia. it was decorated from top to bottom with her art. she would often take bottles and other pieces of trash people threw her way and make them into art. 🍾

 

her house was her sanctuary. she got so many visitors that she eventually bought a guestbook for them to sign. lots of people from all over came to see her art.

during the height of her career, nellie got to exhibit her work in new york

she was so escited! she was happy to pose in front of lady liberty. the pieces she made during this time were all about her time in new york and how esciting it was.

 

she also created smaller drawings in her sketchbook. my favorite are the ones of her playing the organ as she would play and sing at church.

she died in 1982

she died from having multiple myeloma. she obtained a lot of notoriety and awards for her art. 

 

her grave is often decorated with art. and her legacy where her house used to be is still acknowledged to this day.

i am so thankful i got to learn about nellie mae rowe

whenever it comes to art education, i have found it always center around white european male artists. the only reason i learned about artists from latin america was because of the spanish classes i was taking.

 

i remember asking one of my teachers if we would learn about artists from africa at some point. she said, “no. our curriculum doesn’t revolve around those artists.” 

 

why not? 🤔

 

nellie may not be from the global south, but she was a dark skinned black woman living in georgia. i cannot imagine how scared she was when she outlived her second husband. but her artistic voice grew stronger.

 

i just feel there is an entire group of voices that are often overlooked in favor of the “old masters”. there is more than just their way to create art. people have compelling pieces out there and i wish museums and galleries would shine a light on them.

i brought out the oil paints

i wanted to create a painting inspired by nellie mae rowe.

materials used

*not affiliate links

nellie often would use the color black for black people instead of the actual brown skin tone. in fact, she would often depict herself as several different skin tones.

 

i personally like using the color black as a skin tone. i use it to take the power back that was taken from us due to racist depictions of black people. i want this color to be used in beautiful depictions of people like me. i feel nellie felt the same way.

 

she has a halo around her because nellie would often put a halo around herself. 😇 the chevron pattern is to represent her luv of patterns.

 

i luv the nail polish because nellie always made sure to put fingernail polish on her hand drawings. 💅🏿💅🏿 the figure is in a green dress because nellie almost always put herself in a green outfit. 💚💚💚

i made a sketch of a zombie girl sleeping

i was further inspired by nellie’s artwork of interiors and portraits within those interiors. 

 

but it didn’t feel creepy enough. so i created a second sketch.

luv the colors and how i truly embraced nellie’s ability to flatten a composition and create perspective in a simplistic way. daniel says it reminds them of “the prisoner” with patrick mcgoohan. the plants show growth with the dichotomy of a dead zombie that no longer grows

i used prismacolor scholar and verithin colored pencils (not an affiliate link) on top of the painting.

I watched two videos on how to ship larger paintings

knowing how to ship larger paintings empowers me. now i can ship paintings regardless of size.

i was further inspired by nellie that i created a second zombie girl portrait

this painting is called “Pretty Thing”. it is named after the song “Pretty Thing” by The Broods. 

 

the painting is not about the song. it is of a zombie in the bathtub surrounded by pretty things. 🛁 🐚

i luv how the bubbles turned out. they’re so lively. the flashe paint i used dries matte which ive been preferring over gloss.

 

the geode is something that is very vaginal and sexual. i feel my most sexy when im in the bathtub. so that is why the geode is there. 

 

i created a frame for my work within my work because nellie would often do that in her art. i also added small red dragonfruits. i dont often see dragonfruits in art so i decided to add them because im kinda obsessed with them. i think they’re beautiful.

my package from blick art supplies arrived 🤩

here is what i got *not affiliate links

i really hope you enjoyed learning about nellie mae rowe with me. the book is amazing. i really wish i couldve met her when she was alive. i hope to discover more artists like her in the future. I do plan to buy a copy of Really Free (not an affiliate link) for zieself someday.

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