Tanya D. and yours truly...

Hello there! I thought I may share this kodak moment with you. This is Tanya Doskova, the world renowned award winning fine artist(painter, printmaker, and illustrator) from Vancouver,B.C., Canada. She was named "Featured Artist" for 2011 Bayou Art Festival in Memorial Park. I have the pleasure of meeting her not too long ago. I volunteered as part of Artist Relief team, year after year,(and I loved it).  To take a peek at her huge body of work, go visit these links:

www.fineartoncanvas.com or tanyadoskova.com

bayoucityartfestival.com/featured-artist

www.facebook.com/tanyadoskova

tanyadoskova.blogspot.com 

 

My Inspiration behind Monalisa’s Journal 

             Art, to me, is more than just my talent or a gift. First and foremost, it is a calling from God. It became my first love when boys wouldn’t go out on a date with me. It is my way of communicating to the public when I don’t speak verbally to them.  Art is a journal (or diary), a mirror reflecting on my life as an African-American woman, a person with mental and physical challenges, and an artist. Monalisa Noir is my alter ego. Monalisa was taken from one of DaVinci’s famous paintings from the Italian Renaissance. Noir is a French word for black, one of the languages spoken in parts of Africa.  

       My early childhood to adolescence was filled with teasing, bullying, self-hatred and loneliness. Twelve was the number of years of surgery I had on my arms almost every summer. No, my hands were not a burden to me; these are the instruments I use to create my world: a “reality” series. Art is also a great release therapy. Being young and trying to fit in the crowd while working so hard and being true to myself took a toll on me when I was hit rock bottom with depression. While sketching in the hospital, I learned to let go of the bad memories that plagued me from childhood to adulthood and to move forward with my healing process.      

  Back then, art was a way to entertain myself when so-called friends left me behind. Cartoons, TV shows (Disney, Nickelodeon, and Channel 8, etc.) and kindergarten teachers help stirred up my imagination and taught me the basics of art. I have love drawing every since my elementary school days. To this day, drawing was, is and always will be my ultimate medium. My other visual expressions are painting and printmaking. I think exploring these mediums gives my portfolio an interesting balance. My love for art grows deeper every time I start a project. There will be more series of drawings, prints and paintings from life and memoirs. I communicate visually with ebony pencils, conte’ crayons, charcoal, ink, encaustic paints, gouache and acrylics.

  John Biggers, Charles White, Tom Feelings, Norman Rockwell, Italian Renaissance and the Harlem Renaissance have influenced me to maintain excellence in the techniques of detailing, rendering, volume, shading and dematerialization. 

an autobiography of Gretchin Morris is coming soon!

Travelin' through to Greatness

Yep, this is me alright... just traveling through this narrow way to greatness.
What some of the things I've packed? Well, I might have a sketckbook, pencil, marker, pen, phone,  and notepad. But there's one more thing that I also packed which is so needed for my journey...FAITH!

Jesus, take the wheel...I'm ready to go!

      Climbin' Higher Mountain, gouache on plywood, 2003

         This is my book cover design for "Interview with the Gerbils". The comic/children's book is soon to release this summer. Stay tune! :-)

Someday, it will come into fruition...

    MSharp Studios Inkorporated is a graphics design, illustration/animation, publishing and entertaining company that has a uniquely progressive approach towards the multimedia industry. We believe that the more quality artwork there is in circulation, regardless of the source, the more successful the industry will be as a whole. In other words, we embrace our competition, and our innovative ideas about creating, publishing, marketing artwork and entertainment are helping to establish the production name among the national publication in a corporate multimedia marketplace.

    The future breakouts project of MSharp Studios Ink., the original comic book series “Interview with the Gerbils”, is soon scheduled to go into national distribution with two more releases, which is currently in production.  Gretchin“Monalisa”Morris, owner and creative force behind this successful series not only produces quality artwork, but also uses her talent in all sorts of other multimedia industries and applications