Strands overflowing...

A wonderful pair of artistic outtakes from the collaboration of Maurice Evans and PrettyBlak

See more of this pair's work at the online community for Pangea's Garden.

Thoughts behind Shells...

So I'm at Apache Cafe and Lounge and I am talking to some of the patrons about the portal and the types of images I think we should capture. Artistic...sexy...provocative, most of the things we say are typically used for almost every other venue that focuses on creating beautiful images of women. But no matter how sexy or revealing, there is some aspect to the content that has to be considered.

Now not all of what is posted to the portal will be for everyone's taste. And I personally feel that I walk a line when I consider what I want to create for the Garden. And this is the conversation I am having with the artists and patrons of the Lounge when I am looking at Shells...


Shells was born in Honduras and she worked in a circus before she ended up in Atlanta. She is currently working on a performance art piece and I hope to feature it in some way in the Garden. Her history is rich and textured and it is reflected in the poses she takes in the Lounge; relaxed, provocative, cool & dramatic, proud.


Her head is never down.

And that was it. Artistic...sexy...nude...provocative...proud. Glamourous, naughty, humorous, intense, dramatic and passionate...yes. Never degrading...never pornographic...never disrespectful.


Pangea's Garden is the place that celebrates the pride in the beauty that broadens the perspective and gives voice to the rich, textured, soulful environment that creates it.



My thoughts behind Shells is that her head is never down. And before I knew who she was and what she was doing, she was beautiful to me in that way.

Click.

a moment's step into nature...

a moment's capture...

a centennial moment to ponder...

Just taking a breath. This is my 101st entry and I was just reflecting on how this all came to me and what its about. It didn't start with the conversation on hair. It was before that and it was at this place. And this model, Xian, was one of the muses.

In a week or so, (ironing out a few technical kinks) the portal will go live and this blog will be a part of it. And it will be as the blog has been, a repository of images of the beauty, glamour & sensuality of EarthSistas, a haven for ideas on the influences of Afrocentricity in art, culture, sexuality, politics, music, family...life. And it will a place where we can, all express ourselves, creatively and admire the efforts of those who have.

Just taking a moment. Catching my breath. Waiting...

The MUSE at the Lounge...

Monday night at the Apache Cafe and Lounge. Sunset is the MUSE.

This a series of candid pictorial moments between the MUSE and the ARTISTS...

Just cool...

Susannah Marie

Susannah Marie has a message for those she seeks to inspire...

I'm a Muse; playful, sensual and lots of energy. There's a fine line between sensual and sexual but nevertheless it is distinct. I apply movement to my poses, graceful moves, I move slowly enough for you to tell me when to stop and I'll hold the pose.

My body is sculpted and expressive so bring lots of film, photo cards or whatever it is that you use. I have some music to bring with me, if you have some then shoot for slow classical (piano concertos - Chopin) ambient music/world music/tribal music such as; enigma, delirium, cirque du soliel etc.

Please feel free to see more of Susannah's fantastic work here and here. Believe me when I say she is phenomenal when it comes to pushing the creative envelope. The images here barely scratch the surface. Hopefully she will be involved in the Garden more intensely in the near future.

Charlisha...a pictorial moment

Charlisha is a model that I've recently spoken to online about joining us in the Garden. A Fashion Merchandising student, Charlisha wants to focus on art and fashion photography as both a model and photographer. Being a lover of art, she wants to use captures to provoke visual stimulations to the mind. She has also ventured into acting. Her beauty has been captured by the likes of Patrick Covington , Kever Conyers III , the KS Collection and B L O P H O T O. You can check out her modeling portfolio here and her photography portfolio here. I look forward to seeing what she chooses to do next.

a creative moment with the models for the portal...

Lois Lane's passion...


Nena's cool

stay tuned.

the inspired works of Gus Bennett, Jr

Gus Bennett, Jr. is a Photographer out of New Orleans. I've always admired his techniques of combining photographic images with archival painted abstracts to create a soulful creatively intimate capture. I am humbled and inspired by his works. Hopefully, he will be a part of the portal. In the meantime, I share these extraordinary works here. To see more of his works you can find them here and here.

artful vanisha...

Taking a moment to explore a couple of my inspirations: the dancer/muse Vanisha and the photographer/artist Gus Bennet. You've seen many of my images of Vanisha here on the Project and you can see the work of Gus Bennet here. I am digging these. They make me want to paint and draw again.

passionate self-portraits by xxmisa

Impressively creative explorations in self-portraiture are only one of the reasons I was impressed by the works of this young photography enthusiast. When you see XXMISA's works, you see the chronicles of a talent on the road of discovery. Her artistic approaches to composition and post processing will leave you entertained and inspired. And I find her subjects to be insightful and potentially provocative. She's doing great work now; I look forward to watching her grow. And when you see more of works here, you will see that these images are just the tip of the iceberg.

rainy days...

It rained at Mas Camp.

I've talked about this place several times before but It may be shutting its doors soon and there were so many spots I wanted to shoot in that I never got a chance too.

I was fortunate enough to have a model who would come with me and it had been so hot and sunny for so many days that I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to create a new set for the portal.


I wanted to do the shoot in the kitchen of this joint. The windows had been painted blue and when the sun hit them it creates a very artsy, very dramatic feel on the images. But you need a lot of sun for a good shot.

And it rained. The day we could do it (not the days before and the days after) it rained. And when it wasn't raining, it was cloudy and overcast. So we made the best of it. We got a some of images I wanted but not enough for a full set and I've posted a couple here. And the sun came out long enough when we were shooting outside so that we were able to create enough images for a set, more on those later.

But do you get the feel we were going for when we started this shoot? I really like we got. Sometimes folks compliment my work; but I am always reminded that a good capture ALWAYS requires the hand of God.

a Radiantz capture...

an outtake from one of the shoots with Radiantz, one of the first models for the portal.
the black is radiant...the black is colorful...the black is beautiful in the Garden