1. A Reflection of Life and the Struggles We Face A look inside the artwork and life of Jamea Richmond-Edwards

2. Jamea Richmond- Edwards Artist and Art Educator

3. About the Artist Detroit-bred Studied drawing and painting at Jackson State University Illustration, then Art Education Now teaches elementary, middle, and high school students Currently lives in Silver Spring, MD with her family where she is earning her painting MFA at Howard University

4. Influences and Inspiration Gustav Klimt (arrangement of painting, use of color, pattern, and gold leaf) Kerry James Marshall (African American popular culture)

5. Compare/Contrast Jamea Richmond Edwards, All The Pretty Roses Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Emelie Flöge

6. Compare/Contrast Jamea Richmond-Edwards, Emerge From the Darkness Kerry James Marshall, Lost Boys

7. Heart of the Artwork Subject matter solely women Based off of the complex lives of those women most close to her Wings Not Meant to Fly

8. Some of the media she uses: Acrylic ink graphite gold leaf rhinestones collaged paper It Could Be a Sad Story

9. Honoring Artwork The women in her paintings-meant to represent her family and their struggles Life in the ghetto Family’s drug addictions Murder

10. Significance of the Owl A reference to Edwards’ aunt, who was murdered several years ago. Owl imagery inspired by Medusa myth “Medusa’s forces were symbolized by the female figure positioned in holy postures and gestures of empowerment,” explains Edwards. Noticing that sometimes birds were nestled among the serpents that formed Medusa’s hair, Edwards began putting birds in her own subjects’ hair and exploring the archetype in relationship to the women’s stories in her paintings.” (excerpt taken from an IRAAA article written about Edwards in 2013)

11. What we can ultimately find in Edward’s work: A way to learn and process human frailty and strength A way to honor the women she held most dear