Check out my Februllage collages below.
Februllage Day #21 (Prompt: SOAP)
Cleaning is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about SOAP, the Februllage Day #21. My digital collage is entitled “Ms. Clean.” I started with a photo I took last year as I cleaned my kitchen and added graphics that illustrate my cleaning routine. I placed a duafe, the Ghanaian Adinkra symbol that represents cleanliness, on my yellow glove.
Februllage Day #22 (Prompt: PINK)
The color pink makes me think of breast cancer and my two grandmothers, Dorothy Mae Johnson Gartin (Nanan) and Frederica Stanley Roberts Leeke (Grandmommy), who lived with breast cancer. I created two collages to honor Nanan and Grandmommy. They are entitled “Dorothy Mae’s Pink Roses and Ribbons” (see collage above) and “Freddie’s Pink Ribbon Journey” (see collage below).
I used Canva to create an AI-generated background of pink roses, one of Nanan’s favorite flowers. She gave my mom Theresa some of her pink rose bush to replant in the yard of our home in Landover, Maryland. Breast cancer awareness ribbons are also included with photos of my grandmothers. The first collage features Nanan. The second collage features Grandmommy.
Februllage Day #23 (Prompt: TEETH)
Teeth, the February Day #23 prompt, made me think of the way Black women smile when they feel joy. “Aunt Paul’s Smile of Joy” is the name of my collage.
I decided to use a 1940s photo of my grandaunt Paulyne Roberts smiling. Aunt Paul was a second grandmother to me. Everytime I see her photo, I think her smile is filled with Black woman joy.
I added two yellow Ghanaian Adinkra symbols called Gye W’ani to her clothing. They represent joy of living. Yellow is known as the color of joy.
An affirmation about choosing joy on a daily basis was included to remind me to claim and experience my birthright of joy. I used Canva to create an AI-generated background of a morning rainbow horizon filled with sunshine to mark the beginning of a joyful day.
Februllage Day #24 (Prompt: TITANIC)
To be honest, Titanic, the Februllage Day #24 prompt, didn’t resonate with me. After I looked up some information about the British luxury passenger liner that sank in April 1912, I realized my grandmother Dorothy Mae Johnson Gartin (Nanan) was born the same year. I chose to celebrate her birth year in my digital collage entitled “1912: The Beginning of Dorothy Mae, God’s Child.”
I started the collage with two baby photos of Nanan and used Canva’s “luna” filter to change the look of the larger photo. I used blue numbers to create 1912. Blue Nsoromma Adinkra symbols are included to affirm Creator’s love and protection of babies. Nsoromma means “child of the heavens.”
Februllage Day #25 (Prompt: WITCH)
Februllage Day #25 (Prompt: WITCH)
Witch is the prompt for Februllage Day #25. I believe witch is another word for healer. I also believe many of my ancestors were African and indigenous healers or the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of healers. As a result, they guide me in my journey and healing arts work.
My collage is entitled “Womanline Healers.” It celebrates three generations of unique healers, including my great-great-grandmother Francis (Fannie) Daniel Thomas who shared her gifts as a midwife; my grandaunt Paulyne Roberts who served as a nurse at Freedman’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.; and me playing sound healing bowls. I placed an Aya Ghanaian Adinkra symbol on my great-great-grandmother Fannie’s chest. It represents healing.
I used my painting “Love’s Mentalism” as a background because it features the seven chakras (the body’s energy centers).
Ananda Leeke 