Abstract Gymnast: How I balance School, Gymnastics, and a Painting Career.

K'Aniyah: Second Grader 

In Conversation with K'Aniyah, painter and owner of Sairyah's Swirls.

"Many times I paint in swirls before shifting the paint to cover the canvas"

When did you first know you loved art ?

I knew I first loved art when I first tried it with my mom. The first time I loved doing abstract fluid art was when my step dad T showed my mom and I how to create the fluid art that he was creating.

What inspires you when sitting down to paint/draw ?

Colors are my inspiration. Each color mean something to me or the person that my custom orders are being made for.

What does your process look like? Techniques, Typical time length to finish a piece, etc.

My process involves me gathering all my materials which include, the canvas, paint and cups.Next I hand pick the colors for my canvas. The colors are handed picked based on what a customer might request request whereas my freestyle paintings are just three random colors.I began by pouring the paint in cups either in a layer or in individual cups. After that I pour the cups of paint onto the canvas allowing them to sit upside down until all the paint has been released. I then remove the cups and begin to tilt the canvas side to side, up and down until the entire canvas is covered. Once the entire canvas is covered I place the canvas on a rack and allow it to air dry for about 8-12 hours or until finished depending on how big the canvas is.

What challenges have you found on the business side, both positive and negative? (money, selling, networking, etc)

The positives would be helping people find the right painting that fits them because

occasionally people struggle with deciding which painting they would like to purchase and

take home with them. The negative aspects of the business would be the negative comments

from people. I also like to be in the front at vending events but that doesn’t always occur so,

it adds a little frustration to the process.

How do you balance your time as a student and an artist?

Balancing out my week with being a student, artist and gymnast isn't as hard as it seems.

On Monday and Wednesday I go to gymnastics after school. On the weekends, from Friday

to Sunday I am an artist making beautiful creations and selling my work.

What are your next steps as an artist?

My next step is creating merchandise. I will be putting my creative mind to work and applying designs to clothing items, phone cases, coasters, tables etc.

Where would you like to see yourself in 10 years?

In 10 years I would love to be living in California with my family, selling paintings and

other merchandise while watching all my dreams unfold.

Are you planning on going to college, if so would you major in art?

If not, what else is it that interests you?

When I go to college I will major in either Art, Psychology or Science. I am not sure which field just yet but I have time to think about that.

What aspects of art are you interested in exploring next?

I am interested in Animation, Architecture, and Calligraphy. These are just a few aspects

of art that i would like to explore as time go on and i learn more techniques.

Ceraunophilia

Shirmina: "Artivist" and Doula-in-Training

The sky opens its mouth to curse at me

And i feel at home

The clouds cry a song wet and heavy

And i sing

The air flashes it's teeth

Bright and brief

And i offer stillness

I sit by the window

Captivated by the chaos

Just this night alone,

It calls out to me a thousand times

And I blush at how well an uproar knows my name

Ceraunophilia is the fascination with thunderstorms

I swallowed one once

And have been in love with them ever since

I was born a dew drop

Quiet and undemanding

The ghost of a cry

The chip on the shoulder of a rainstorm

I was born so soft you’d have no idea i came from wreckage

petals so delicate, you’d have no idea a monsoon fed me

But as a black woman

With a family full of black women

Anger and violence blowing thru our limbs

We cover ourselves in tribulations

To teach our skin the touch of a tornado

On the sunniest of days

I YouTube tropical rainstorm sounds to soothe my anxiety

How ironic

To use a storm against another

But i never knew any better

When the eyes of every hurricane look like my mothers

When my dad cracked like lightning

And disappeared like it too

When my aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins

All have tempers like tempests

How can i not love a storm?

It is what both fed and burned my family tree

I am fueled by hot wind and clap-backs

Intoxicated by things shaken and stirred

I don’t understand the comfort of calm

Seems untrustworthy to me

Like it got something to say

Mother nature taught me how to roll a storm off my tongue

So i’m always raining

Always rumbling

Cursed and coarse

I am most myself when i’m angry

I look most like my mother when i’m yelling

And when she died

I inherited her rage

And carried it in my jaw

A bloodline of belligerence

Siphoned thru me like a cyclone

All our mouths are storms at sea

Our tongues

Bolts of lightning that strike the same place on the regular

We don’t mean to be like this

In a perpetual state of pissed the fuck off

Raining on parades

Thundering

But i don’t remember who i am without all this uproar

I tried to cry out all this rainfall

I tried to shout the storm out of my throat

My anxiety shakes the sky so hard

The night falls to my feet

My rage dances in black and steps on all the stars

I am so exhausted of bad weather

I just wanna get to the rainbow