Two weeks ago, Michelle had asked somewhat timidly, if she
could turn in a few pieces of her art to be published in Street Roots. Now, a
week after her first artwork was published, I was waving to Michelle as she
rode her bike up to the Street Roots’ office with a casual, buoyant, demeanor.
Taking care to lock her bike up, she asked if we could brew a pot of coffee.
We sat down with our cups, and Michelle flashed her
contagious smile as she opened up her sketchbook. She spoke about several of
her pieces with common themes of mortality. But also explained “I also put
different cultural influences: Asian-Indian design, Native American, and
Chinese. They resonate with me. Street artists really inspire me to do more
intricate things.” These influences can be seen in the pen and ink montage of
faces above.
Michelle also draws inspiration from her daily adventures:
“I wander all over the place, not just in the city but in the nature parks, go
hiking. The environment and every day inspire me.”
Street artists inspire her current work and her time
volunteering through Central City Concern’s Community Volunteer Corps program.
The program has introduced her to different community influences, such as the
Rebuilding Center. “I’d like to do more three-dimensional and installation type
pieces. I am starting to meet people who can help me with that. It seems so
organic. There are people there who know how to weld and work with metal. They
have experience moving and hanging things, or experience with light. It’s
really interesting the way people’s everyday knowledge can really help and be
melded into this cool creative escape of ‘awesomeness.’”
Her smile and eyes continued to shine as she spoke of
another community, Street Roots. “When I am selling papers, I always think
about how there are so many other vendors out there and other newspapers and we
are all out there at the same time. I feel this sense of camaraderie. For me, I
feel like it has such a great community and does so many important things.
The paper has so many articles that are so well written and
so thought out. How can you not read it? It’s really an awesome paper and it’s
good to know what’s going on in your world.”
As Michelle closed her sketchbook, her relaxed excitement
continued to shine at the prospect of contributing more art and being
published: “Groovy,” she said.