Back in December, I was commissioned to do artwork for a local magazine called Edible Queens for their Winter 2017 issue.
My artwork was featured on this piece called “This Is My Queens” which was written about Melinda Katz. She’s currently the Queens Borough President, and is working hard to fix up Jamaica, Queens. She grew up in Jamaica and knows of the potential it has to become a great neighborhood. The piece was written about her experience and thoughts about Jamaica.
I was commissioned to draw a handful of historical hotspots and places of cultural importance. I was asked to draw with a sophisticated and motherly style to represent Melinda Katz. I wanted to create some sort of pattern with these hotspots. These were the sketches and initial style I went with, featuring the Queens Central Library, Long Island Railroad & conductor Major Park Park Monument, St. John’s University, & Jamaica Center For Arts & Learning.
After some exchange with the editors, I softened up the style, got rid of some elements, added other elements, and hand wrote the title text. I sent it over, and it was added to their winter issue. I unfortunately wasn’t able to get my hands on a physical copy, but saved the digital version, so I will always be able to refer back to a final copy of this project.
This specific story of fixing up Jamaica is something I support as I grew up there before my parents moved us to suburbia. My grandparents and aunt still live in Jamaica, so I find myself in that neighborhood pretty often. It’s a little rough around the edges, but being such a big neighborhood, it has a lot of potential to become better. I don’t exactly support the idea of gentrification, but more so the idea of making places a little more welcoming and clean. SO many neighborhoods of New York have changed, and it’s kinda nice to see them a little more lively and welcoming. It’s always nice to be able to walk down a street without having to second guess your safety. I wish we could all work hard to do that.
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