Listen to "Welcome to my podcast" on Spreaker.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Patience.....Young Grasshoppa(A Year in Review)

Peace all,

I had to think for awhile about how I wanted to do a year ending blog, things flipped so quickly that if I really wanted to fully recap Q's year in review, it would probably be a long, cumbersome blog, so let's trim the fat shall we?

I guess I can say I began to see promise this past February when I was able to start up my own website and expose my art among other things with it. REALQUWWA.COM started slowly, and not having much fanfare, I tried to advertise on my Youtube channel as well as Facebook, but response has been slow to say the least. But I don't despair in any event because I know what to expect, especially as an independent artist, along with the subject matter of my work. Today my website has two displays, the ongoing Lifestyles of the Ignored and the See What I See exhibit (CWATIC) which I renamed The All Aboard the 554 Exhibit , which chronicles scenes in my area of South Dallas. 554 is the route number of the city bus that goes through my area.


The See What I See(CWATIC)Exhibit
held this past October 29th marked a milestone for the Q, seeing that I had not presented an exhibit of any sort, the only time I really exhibited my work at any time was at a student art exhibit when I attended Community College, and that was a while to say the least. But the response was great, especially in the fact that many people were able to see the direction my art was going, and also gave the opportunity to expose the possibilities of visual art to an area that does not get a chance to truly see a cultural event like this. To show the mindstate of my area as well as American society as a whole, I received replies from people who were somewhat surprised and/or dismayed when I explained that this exhibit was for FREE, and not to commercialize my work. I mean don't get me wrong, I am not saying I will not sell my work when the opportunity comes, but the purpose of my art is not just to "sell things" and make money, but to make a difference, inspire, and motivate too. In my area people have relegated everything now to a "hustle" or "getting up" and we are missing out on making a serious impact in society today. This is the sad state of society, mostly stemming from the notion of not seeing things in a spiritual perspective, and only seeing things from this temporal materialistic existence. It's high time we start changing that perception. The corrupt only hold the money for a period of time, but in the end everything goes back to Allah(Al-Warith, The Inheritor).

Other events include the inspiring art sale I attend two weeks ago, held by renowned artist and Dallas resident Frank Frazier, Jr. He's a veteran at this thing, and his invitation thru Facebook was something I did not want to pass up. I met other artists, and saw astounding work that inspired me. I am very grateful to witness such an event. Also can't forget the BlogTalkRadio interviews with Angel Ayes and Lady Flava, which let me air out my outlook on many things in art and society as well.

This year has ended on a positive note in that the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Library graciously invited me to display my artwork. This was a library I had targeted for CWATIC, but finances prevented me from holding such an exhibit, but thankfully I was able to present a CWATIC display. Here are the photos:







So I have no choice but to take this as a step in the right direction. I feel that God(Allah) is putting me in a much better position, and I must remain patient and not be deterred from any naysayers, or any type of "slow" response, because in the end the victory will be there for me, if I just hold on. People are politicking for my work to be displayed in different areas, and other opportunities await me. I keep thinking about the day when I almost gave everything up, but that something inside me told me to just submit the proposal. Fear of rejection had pretty much overtaken me, but after realizing I'm just following the course that's already paved for me, things became a lot easier. Now I am more confident in my ability, and ready to expand my repetoire and come up with more artwork. 2012 looks to be very interesting, and I will not wait for February, when my next exhibit hits.





It's about to be fun.....Peace......CWATIC @ www.realquwwa.com

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

The Fixx - Less Cities, More Moving People

Peace all, just wanted to drop by and see how the bloggy family doing today...Having problems at the library with this WiFi thing, can't even load up a simple The Dark Knight Rises trailer...drats...Wrapping up the works for the display at the library and oh, I had a blast last weekend at Artist Frank Frazier's home at an art sale. Met some interesting and inspiring artists, but won't tell ya until the next blog(IA)...Right now enjoy the blast from the past. I was thinking about this ditty while taking pictures around my area. Take care and love you all....Peace!


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

NEXT UP ON THE MENU!!!!

Peace all,

I've been hard at work(well sorta)putting the final pieces together, trying to come up with a theme for the exhibition at the Paul Lawrence Dunbar Library, hopefully I will be able to set up the display this weekend.

This library was one of the few in the southern Dallas sector that I targeted for the See What I See(CWATiC) exhibit, but other things came in the way, and with the exhibition that I'm working on for February 2012 entitled Back And Forth so close, I've kinda put CWATiC over to the side. However I received an email a few days ago requesting some of my artwork to be displayed there. When I received the picture I was like "OK, great" and began to look for some smaller scale paintings to display there, more in the 8x10 to 9x12 range, however when I arrived there personally to take a look, I was amazed at the amount of space that I saw, and from there the ideas just started flowing...



Basically I plan to mix it up a bit, showing works from both the Lifestyles of the Ignored series and a couple of works from the CWATiC exhibit, especially the bottles I worked on for The New Gold Rush and maybe a couple of new twists in store. So it looks as if the CWATiC exhibit will continue, but in a different fashion this time around...I hope I can capture a few shots for a promo video of some sorts, ya know?

Also the same weekend I'm planning to attend this function held by renowned artist Frank Frazier Jr, who also lives in the southern Dallas area as well. I attended an exhibit he held a few years back and recently we became Facebook friends. So this looks to be an exciting and educational weekend ahead for me, and I hope to take full advantage of the opportunity...



Take care all, hope to be back soon with another blog....Peace!

CWATIC @ http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Texas Welfare Office Shooting Mom Denied Food Stamps For Mo 12/09 by PPC1 | Blog Talk Radio

Peace All, found this BlogTalkRadio segment and thought I would just post it to my blog, giving you an indication of what's happening here on this side of the world, for those who only see the bright lights and stuff. I'll be back with another blog soon(IA)and more info on my art. Take care.

Texas Welfare Office Shooting Mom Denied Food Stamps For Mo 12/09 by PPC1 | Blog Talk Radio

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Is It Really?(Not Enough)

Peace all,

I had intended to do a blog about this tripped-out documentary I saw entitled "Prohibition" from PBS, about the history of the Law of Prohibition on Alcohol in America, and the repealling of the law, but I'll hold off on that, because I'm still trippin' on it....LOL


Things have been jumping recently for me, and I have everyone to thank for the support, it is greatly appreciated. For starters, I have received an offer from another library to display my work...I can't begin to tell you how pumped up when I received the email, and now I have other things on hand to boot, but I can't tell ya right now....

LOOKS LIKE THINGS ARE COOKING UP FOR THE Q!

Yeah, they do look that way, I just pray that I can take everything in stride, not forgetting what and Who am I doing this for! I keep thinking this thing almost didn't happen.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

I mean I had presented the proposal to the librarian for the CWATIC exhibit, even after going through all of the other drama, and I had pretty much dropped the whole thing, but something internally inspired me to give it to her. The day I was ready to chuck it all in, she summoned me up to the desk and after explaining everything to her, I showed her the website, and then she introduced me to another librarian, who saw what I did, and she just took off and took it to another level, and it hasn't stopped since. Regardless of what happens, this is definitely a lesson to keep going regardless of how things look...I am ever grateful to my Creator for this, and grateful to those who supported me in any and every way.

SO WAS THIS ONE OF THE PICTURES AT THE EXHIBIT?

Yeah, it's called Not Enough. It was constructed almost two years ago, but I displayed it at the exhibit, and it was well received by both young and old. I didn't think it would go over so well, but they loved the blue and the message it contained. The red bowl added to the contrast.

SO EXPLAIN BRIEFLY THE MEANING...

Well it just to show that a growing number of Americans(and the rest of the world too as a matter of fact) are not able to fulfill their basic needs due to the criminal economy and the hyperinflation of basic goods and needs to a point where the average citizen may have to face a decision of whether to drop the health insurance, or have to cut back on nutrition, or letting go of some other type of basic need. Despite this there are some who are not suffering who do not see this discrepancy and do not see the effects of globalization, and make statements such as "any job is better than no job at all." But they miss the point greatly when they realize the menial jobs cannot cover the ever increasing costs of health care( or as one author wrote in a book disease care, which seems more appropriate) and the costs of food(whatever happened to Wal Mart price rollbacks?), not too mention insurance for every freaking thing from homeowners to car insurance to life insurance, to....oh my!!!!

SO PEOPLE REALLY MAKE SUCH STATEMENTS?

Yes they do...funny how humans can forget about others' plight and only judge another's situation based on their own experience, they also fail to understand the difference between a "little" job and not having any job is that even with a "little" job, you will eventually lose everything you own, it just doesn't happen right away....This picture also reminds me of a young man with five children and whose wife recently needed surgery, but was denied Medicaid because his $10 an hour job was deemed as too much for Medicaid to cover the surgery. Then we have politicians who prove everyday that they are more concerned with the corporations and the elite who oppress and exploit, who say in their campaigns for election that they are content with seeing someone dying rather than to sehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife to it that they would receive care.



WHAT ABOUT OBAMACARE?

Please don't get me started on that....just check out the language, and not just what they say, but what they "don't" say.

SO TRUE...

WHERE CAN ONE SEE THIS AND OTHERS LIKE IT?

www.qartworks.com Just click on the link and I hope enjoy it...

Take care all....CWATiC @ WWW.QARTWORKS.COM

Friday, December 2, 2011

All Aboard the 554

Peace All!!!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!!! THE CWATIC Exhibit!!! Featuring the revised Lifestyles of the Ignored Exhibit, along with the new exhibit held in my hometown entitled Aboard the 554. Just click HERE to enter the website.



I am also in the process of working on prints and posters!!!! I should be out with those in the upcoming days!(IA)...

I hope to be back next week with another blog, but for now, enjoy, and CWATIC @ www.realquwwa.com....Peace!!!

My Bloggy Friends

My Favorite Blogs