Author and poet Tariq Toure has been a friend of mine since we marched together in the now-disbanded 300 Men March. Most of the time, we were on alert, patrolling neighborhoods, but there were often long walks between them as well, where many of us would socialize. Tariq lived pretty close to me at the time, so we would ride together to and from marches, and would spend hours just talking. As the uprising expanded in Baltimore, we would often find ourselves at protests together, fighting for justice for Tyrone West, Freddie Gray, Timothy Caughman, and many others. I always went out to take pictures. Tariq initially didn’t say much when mics were passed around, but gradually became more vocal. Tariq has a way with words. He began launching into speeches, reciting his poetry, blasting the systems of injustice that kept chokeholds on our city. At one of the first times he spoke publically, I snapped a picture of him, poised to take the mic and speak. Our friendship grew, and he began writing books. Together with visuals from Shannon Wallace and Kyle Pompey, I designed his book of poetry Black Seeds: The Poetry and Reflections of Tariq Toure, and then also helped get his next book 2 Parts Oxygen: How I Learned to Breathe get made as well. I began sketching a portrait of Tariq based on that photo years ago, but only finally finished it this month. The patterning in the background is the same pattern I designed into his book, which forms a pattern of Black Seeds. Touré’s poetry and prose has been featured in award-winning publications such as Muslim Matters, Salon, Washington Post, Al Jazeera, The Nation Magazine and Sapelo Square. Black Seeds, Toure’s debut collection of poetry ranked among the top in African American Poetry and Literature releases in Black History month on Amazon and was the winner of Best Poetry Book of Baltimore in 2016 by City Paper Magazine. Touré has been a featured lecturer/performer at Howard University, Princeton University, Georgetown University, among many others. He has been regarded by legendary hip hop artist Black Thought as the Amiri Baraka of our era. Imam Omar Suleiman has identified Tariq as a vessel of the Muslim community.

This portrait of Baltimore musician Abdu Ali was done for an article for the Baltimore City Paper that was never published. I loved the drawing so much that I decided to finish it on my own.

Michael Fred Phelps II is an American retired competitive swimmer and the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (23), Olympic gold medals in individual events (13), and Olympic medals in individual events (16). When he won eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps broke fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz’s 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Phelps had already tied the record of eight medals of any colour at a single Games by winning six gold and two bronze medals. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Phelps won four gold and two silver medals, and at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won five gold medals and one silver. This made him the most successful athlete of the Games for the fourth Olympics in a row. All 28 of Phelps’ Olympics medals are represented, with the darkest as bronze, the medium as silver, and the brightest as gold. The wavy pool lines between the medals delineate what Olympic years he won them in. This piece was commissioned by Michael’s Cafe for display in their restaurant.

John Constantine Unitas, nicknamed “Johnny U” and “The Golden Arm”, was an American football player in the National Football League (NFL). He spent the majority of his career playing for the Baltimore Colts. He was a record-setting quarterback, and the NFL’s most valuable player in 1959, 1964, and 1967. For 52 years he held the record for most consecutive games with a touchdown pass (set between 1956 and 1960), until broken in 2012 by Drew Brees. Unitas was the prototype of the modern era marquee quarterback, with a strong passing game, media fanfare, and widespread popularity. He has been consistently listed as one of the greatest NFL players of all time. He nickname was The Golden Arm because of his excellent ability to throw with his right arm, and he’s also of Lithuanian heritage. The old Lithuanian flag has a knight carrying a sword in his right arm and a shield in his left, so I combined the two and replaced the sword with a football. This piece was commissioned by Michael’s Cafe for display in their restaurant.

Brooks Calbert Robinson Jr. is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire 23-year major league career for the Baltimore Orioles (1955–1977), which still stands as the record for the longest career spent with a single team in major league history. He batted and threw right-handed, though he was a natural left-hander. Nicknamed “The Human Vacuum Cleaner” or “Mr. Hoover”, he is considered one of the greatest defensive third basemen in major league history. He won 16 consecutive Gold Glove Awards during his career, tied with pitcher Jim Kaat for the second-most all-time for any player at any position. Robinson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. Using his nickname, I used the Hoover logo in a pattern of 5 (his jersey number). This piece was commissioned by Michael’s Cafe for display in their restaurant.

Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr, nicknamed “The Iron Man”, is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his position’s most offensively productive players, Ripken compiled 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, and 1,695 runs batted in during his career, and he won two Gold Glove Awards for his defense. He was a 19-time All-Star and was twice named American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP). Ripken holds the record for consecutive games played, 2,632, surpassing Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 that had stood for 56 years and that many deemed unbreakable. In 2007, he was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, and currently has the fourth highest voting percentage of all time (98.53%). I created a background using a pattern of home plates, 2,632 of them, the number of games in his streak. This piece was commissioned by Michael’s Cafe for display in their restaurant.

Raymond Anthony Lewis Jr. is a former American football linebacker who played all of his 17-year professional career for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played college football for the University of Miami, and earned All-America honours. Lewis was drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 1996 NFL Draft, and upon his retirement following the 2012 season, was the last remaining active player from the team’s inaugural season. Lewis played middle linebacker his entire career, and is considered to be one of the greatest ever to play the position. He was a 13-time Pro Bowler, a 10-time All-Pro, and one of the few players in NFL history to play in a Pro Bowl in three different decades (1990s, 2000s, and 2010s). He is also considered to be the greatest Baltimore Raven of all-time. When he was little, his stepfather used to be violent against his mother. To protect her, Lewis began doing pushups. He bought a deck of cards, and whatever card he flipped over, he would do that many pushups. He still does this same routine today. The background is made up of 52 playing cards, the number of cards in a deck, and the cards 5 & 2 are also showing (that’s why his jersey number is 52). This piece was commissioned by Michael’s Cafe for display in their restaurant.

Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and of American literature as a whole, and he was one of the country’s earliest practitioners of the short story. He is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career. He liked to write with a cat on his shoulder. The background is made up of cat faces, as well as the original manuscript of his poem The Raven. This piece was commissioned by Michael’s Cafe for display in their restaurant.

Terrell Raymonn Suggs, nicknamed “T-Sizzle,” is an American football outside linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arizona State, and was recognized as a unanimous All-American. The Ravens selected him with the tenth overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft, and he is the team’s all-time leader in sacks. Suggs is a seven-time Pro Bowl selection, a two-time All-Pro, was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2011, and was part of the Ravens team that won Super Bowl XLVII. As of the conclusion of the 2018 NFL season, Suggs is tied for 13th all-time in career sacks in NFL history. His teammates know his as a jokester, and whenever he gets asked what college he graduated from, he always says “Ball So Hard University”. I designed a logo for the university and built a pattern around multiples of 5. His jersey number is 55. This piece was commissioned by Michael’s Cafe for display in their restaurant.

"Ring the Bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack in everything That's how the light gets in." The quote comes from a song written by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Norman Cohen called "Anthem" which was on his 9th studio album, The Future. While researching the quote, many sources say the line, "There is a crack in everything, That's how the light gets in," came from a story in a Jack Kornfield book on Buddhism titled A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life. However, the book came out in 1993, and Cohen's album came out in 1992...so I dug deeper. Finally, we came across a 1992 interview of Cohen by Paul Zollo which dispels the myths including one about referencing Bob Dylan. Zollo: Is "Anthem" in any way an answer to Dylan’s song "Everything is Broken?" Cohen: I had a line in Democracy that referred specifically to that Dylan song "Everything is Broken" which was, "The singer says it’s broken and the painter says it’s gray," But, no, "Anthem" was written a long time before that Dylan song. I’d say '82 but it was actually earlier than that that that song began to form. Zollo: Including the part about the crack in everything? Cohen: That’s old, that’s very old. That has been the background of much of my work. I had those lines in the works for along time. I’ve been recycling them in many songs. I must not be able to nail it.

"It always seems impossible until it is done." Created on Day Twenty of the Design Across America Zerflin tour. Quote submitted by Lauren Lofton. Font by Ryoichi Tsunekawa of http://dharmatype.com/. The quote is attributed as being Mandela's from many sources, though there are people on Wikiquote researching and tracking it down to its original origins. Publications no earlier than 2007 seem to contain the quote. Mandela has been an inspiration to me as a leader and as someone who has committed their entire life to racial equality. It's the perfect way to end the Design Across America Zerflin tour. You can find out more about the tour here: http://zerflin.com/2012/05/31/2-festivals-20-cities-20-days-design-challange/

“Right may not be expedient. It may not be profitable, but it will satisfy your soul.” Said by Maya Angelou when talking about her mother and a painting by Phoebe called Sister Souki’s Funeral. The quote is taken from the TV show Oprah Presents Master Class, and on January 16, 2011, Maya Angelou was on episode 3.

"We must accept finite disappointment but we must never lose infinite hope." The quote comes from one of the at least 8 books that Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his lifetime called "Strength to Love", published in 1963. The book used material from his sermons, and focused on scriptural teaching and dealing with the problems of racism. Notably missing from the contents were his more controversial antiwar and anti-capitalist views; focusing more on a message of love, as the title states. The passage the quote is from has actually been sourced for quite a few notable quotes from King; here's an excerpt: "To guard ourselves from bitterness, we need the vision to see in this generation's ordeals the opportunity to transfigure both ourselves and American society. Our present suffering and our nonviolent struggle to be free may well offer to Western civilization the kind of spiritual dynamic so desperately needed for survival. Some of us, of course, will die without having received the realization of freedom, but we must continue to sail on our uncharted course. We must accept finite disappointment but we must never lose infinite hope. Only in this way shall we live without the fatigue of bitterness and the drain of resentment. This was the secret of the survival of our slave foreparents."

Done 1 year after the original Who Said What Art Show began, this piece is part of a quartet in which a new style of illustration was explored, making use of a more intricate background. Frederick Douglass originally wrote this quote as part of an essay called "Reconstruction", which he originally wrote in December of 1866. The quote rings true to today.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” There's no known primary source for this powerful quote, but it’s important to note it has never been attributed to anyone else. The Yale Book of Quotations says "Attributed in the Christian Science Monitor, 1 June 1989." I haven’t been able to track down this publication, so whether to not she said it in passing is difficult to say. The earliest attribution “is Earth at omega: passage to planetization” published a few years after her death by Donald Keys.

Done during the Ayinde Factory Quotables theme, submitted by @aleighdub24 Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American politician. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, holding the post from March 1933 to April 1945 during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four terms in office. President Harry S. Truman later called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.

Done 1 year after the originally Who Said What Art Show began, this piece is part of a quartet in which a new style of illustration was explored, making use of a more intricate background. Samuel L. Jackson original said "If you have an opportunity to use your voice you should use it." in an interview discussing his acting career, and encouraging other actors to use their abilities.

Done 1 year after the original Who Said What Art Show began, this piece is part of a quartet in which a new style of illustration was explored, making use of a more intricate background. Jada Pinkett Smith originally wrote this quote as part of an essay called " The War on Men Through the Degradation of Woman", which she originally wrote on Facebook in December of 2012 tackling the issue on how the degradation of women has resulted in problems for both sexes. She wrote it in defense of criticism received by her daughter, Willow. A timelapse video showing the creation of this piece can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbJQZq2qNVk&list=PLsw7pluFiGjoTTPDYIVd0kcYvlKiZ329A&index=4 Video work by Jacob Wattenphul. Music by Wax Stag.

Created during the Ayinde Factory Quotables Show "To imagine is everything, to know is nothing at all." -Anatole France? Originally from Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard as translated by Lafcadio Hearn (1890)

Curtis contacted me through Twitter to get a wedding anniversary for his wife, Sara! I particularly love the way the background shapes turned into a heart.

Raquel D. Montoya-Lewis is an American attorney, social worker, and jurist serving as an Associate Justice of the Washington Supreme Court. Montoya-Lewis was nominated by Governor Jay Inslee on December 4, 2019, to fill the seat of retiring justice Mary Fairhurst. Montoya-Lewis was born in Spain, where her father was stationed in the United States Air Force. Raised in New Mexico, she is a member of the Pueblo of Isleta and descended from the Pueblo of Laguna. Montoya-Lewis and her mother, who was born in Australia, are Jewish. Montoya-Lewis attended the University of New Mexico for her undergraduate degree. She earned her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Washington, and her Juris Doctor from the University of Washington School of Law. I drew her for an interview I did of her for Tribe Herald, discussing the intersections between her Native Americaness and Jewishness. In the background of the piece, I drew patterns based on Laguna Pueblo pottery, but also incorporated the Star of David as well.

Kathy Guillaume Delemar is of Haitian descent, and after she protested in response to Trump’s comments in DC, her coworkers at Miriam’s Kitchen commissioned me to draw this piece of her.

The Remember the Miners campaign asked me to draw West Virginia Basketball Coach Bob Huggins twice for a t-shirt and a handkerchief.

My friend Brandi Douglas asked me to draw her parents, Joyce & Bobby Douglas, using an old wedding photo. She has been supporting me on Patreon, and this was one of her Patreon Perks!

A commission piece for the amazing @Mackenzian. She asked me to make a digital avatar for her.

This piece of Patrick Furlow was commissioned by XPF Baltimore (Extreme Professional Fitness).

This piece was created for Tectonic Space’s show What May Be. The show was all about visions of the future either in positive or negative ways. The hexapod buggy is inspired by vehicles I drew as a kid; they’re the exploratory vehicles that Zerflainian aliens drove around. This is the first time I’ve ever out something directly from my childhood drawings into a vector piece. I’ve always been inspired by sci-fi landscape illustrators like Syd Mead, but I’ve never ventured into that territory until now. There are 3 worlds in the piece; can you see them?

Korryn Gaines was a 23 year old woman killed by the Baltimore County Police on August 1, 2016. According to the Baltimore County Police Department, officers sought to serve Gaines a warrant in relation to an earlier traffic violation. Upon entering her apartment, an hours-long standoff ensued. At least one of the officers shot Gaines, killing her and wounding Gaines’ five-year-old son. Portions of the standoff were filmed by Gaines and posted to social-media networking sites; however, upon police request, Facebook deactivated Gaines’ Facebook and Instagram accounts (which we later restored after her death). This piece was to created to honour her as a Black woman, as a mother, and as a human being. It stands in solidarity, as she did, with the #BlackLivesMatter and Black Liberation movements. All profits from the sale of this piece as either a poster or canvas are donated directly to the family of Korryn Gaines, and every purchase also gets a receipt of the donation made as well.

This Cardinal was made for my Mother for Mother’s Day. For as long as I can remember, in every single one of the many houses we have lived at, there was always a bird feeder sitting outside the kitchen window. I can still hear my Mom breathlessly saying “Oooh, a cardinal!” whenever one would perch to grab a few seeds while she worked in the kitchen. Among her many talents, my Mother is also a quiltmaker, and the background is based on the quilt she made on my parent’s bed when I was a kid. I had tried to draw this for her for several years, but each time the file went corrupt or something happened. This year I bit the bullet and started all over again and got it done.

Vanessa Geffrard is a life-affirming sex educator residing in West Baltimore. She is the founder of VagEsteem, a workshop series and podcast that encourages good and healthy sex through courageous conversations about love, sex, relationships, and everything in between. She also trains and educates adults, parents, and community groups around sexual health topics such as consent and boundaries, sexually transmitted infection prevention, contraceptive methods, teen pregnancy and abortion stigma, healthy relationships, LGBTQ inclusion. Her husband commissioned this portrait for her as a Christmas present. The colours in the piece match the VagEsteem branding colours, and the patterning in the background are drawings of vulvas.

My friend Katrina asked me to draw and memorialize her mother, Patricia Jones. I used a pattern from her shirt as inspiration for the background, and built it up using interlocking halos. This commission was a little more challenging than most, because the reference photo was badly faded and she had two kids on her lap.

Jill Wrigley was an amazing mother, attorney, and activist in Baltimore. Among many things, such as building a park in Irvington, organizing with Baltimoreans United In Leadership Development, she also fought for increased access to fruits and vegetables for Baltimore school children. Of food, she would often talk of it as being one of her primary focuses: “It’s a universal need,” she said. “In a way it’s a masterful way of making social change because it incorporates both the intimate and more grandiose love of large shifts in the political and social landscape.” She lived down the street from me with her husband Michael Sarbanes and their three children, and together they built the neighbourhood around themselves. The neighbours got together to commission this piece from me for her husband, Michael. Her whole poem, which she wrote in 2011, is here: Bird of Earth, by Jill Wrigley You have suffered one of the many causes of human grief. Some one or some thing essential to you has been lost—or mangled. Intentional or accidental, natural or manufactured: The list of possible reasons is long. Step forward and pull one sharp, shimmering shard from the ever-present, ever-changing mosaic of the natural history of humankind: This one is yours. At first you are surprised— by the acuteness of its angles, by its utterly unanticipated specificity, how it lands directly at your door. You try to hold it, roll it about in your hands, seeking to acquaint yourself with its strangeness. It keeps cutting you; yet you are compelled: Bleeding, you pick it up—again and again. Eventually— whether by a dulling of its edges, or the thickening callouses on your hands— you can bear it. You stand there, wondering: Should you return to business? What was your business? A nonlocal voice suggests it is time to get back to normal. Normal? The word carries a faint residue of meaning. People around you seem to be walking down its corridors, unlost. First things first, you say to yourself, recalling that first there is 1, then there is 2, then there is 3. First, you must attend to this sharp and heavy object in your hands. Should you just carry it and walk about? But its weight pulls on your shoulders. But it gets in the way every time some task demands your hands. You puzzle about placing it elsewhere. Maybe behind your eyes— no one will see it there, and your hands will be free. But this opaque and jagged substance becomes the stinging lens through which you view the world, its events, and all its people. Whispers surround you: why is that woman weeping? With your vision distorted, you stumble. You must find some other place to store your sharp and heavy stone. An inner chamber of the heart: Now there is a walled and hidden place— Layers of muscle will buffer its presence. Hands freed, eyes cleared, you begin to move about with some efficacy and predictability until, at the close of a piece of music or some cinematic scene, your heart erupts in such a clang and clatter that all heads turn; all eyes pierce and question. The gut? The bowels are dark and deep and miles long. Some nook, some cranny will serve as shelf. Let this spiky rock gather dust. A fine idea, but any bump in the road sends the rock tumbling against the soft walls of your belly. The lacerations prove intolerable. In desperation you remove the sharp shard— place it on the ground— Give it a long hard stare; Give it a long and tender look. You find a prayer rug, a prayer mat, a prayer shawl. You kneel, you bow, you lay full-on, flat-out, face-down. You pray lord have mercy lord have mercy lord have mercy. You pray lord have mercy lord have mercy lord have mercy One hundred thousand times. In the long, soft silence that follows A thousand gentle hands press firmly on your body. They lift and turn you. They cup your face. They encompass you with warm and fragrant blankets. A warm and tender kiss—wanting nothing back— Is planted on your forehead. You sleep a thousand days. When you rise, you lift your hands to your face. Beloved hands will bear this, but not as burden. The bitter rock is crushed to powder. You mix the earthen pigment with your own salt waters and offer your palms to this: On the left a wingless bird; on the right a bird in flight. So your hands rest, until you meet a pilgrim. Left hand up: Ho! I am wounded. Right hand rises: Oh, I am light! Injured bird; bird in flight. Left hand crosses breath: Aaah! I am wounded. Right hand passes heart: Aaah, I am light! You bow. This way you greet a thousand pilgrims; This way you greet a thousand pilgrims. Walking empty plains and city streets, Through burning days and forested nights, In the thick of the din and the beckoning calm— You greet a thousand pilgrims, And a thousand good hearts wave back.

My friend Vanessa asked me to draw and memorialize her mother, Annie Byrd Jones. I used a garland of hibiscus to frame her figure, and used her earrings as inspiration to create a halo of gold and tropical leaves. Vanessa wrote this about her: A life well lived. She was a dynamic, strong, loving, kind, and generous person who found a way to enter The hearts of many. She loved life even when Life did not love her. She truly learned how to forgive and forget. Her laugher, wisdom, strength, and generosity is priceless. She is being missed every single day and we are all better for having known her and loved her. She has a crown and she has her robe and she has won!