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About Ernest

Baltimore City - Station North A&E District
“An artist is a sort of emotional or spiritual historian. His role is to make you realize the doom and glory of knowing who you are and what you are.” 

-James Baldwin

The journey to self-discovery lasts a lifetime. That journey is the cornerstone of Ernest Shaw’s artistic and  educational practice. Ernest was born in 1969 in Baltimore, Maryland during the Black Arts and Black Power movements. These movements have had and continue to have a lasting impact on his life and work.

As a Baltimore based artist, Ernest’s work… more

Jump to a project:

The Portrait

"Every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the artist, not of the sitter." - Oscar Wilde
  • Kifwebe 1
    Kifwebe 1
    Kifwebe 60"x40" Acrylic 2019
  • Senufo 2 copy.jpg
    Senufo 2 copy.jpg
    Senufo 2 60"x48" Mixed media 2020
  • Crossing Gods copy.jpg
    Crossing Gods copy.jpg
    Crossing Gods 72"x48" Mixed Media 2020
  • Baldwin
    Baldwin
  • Jamal copy.jpg
    Jamal copy.jpg
    Jamal 72"x36" Acrylic 2020
  • Ibeji
    Ibeji
    Ibeji 60"x48" Acrylic 2018
  • Mother to Son copy 2.jpg
    Mother to Son copy 2.jpg
    Portrait of Langston Hughes 30"x20" 72.6x50.8cm Mixed Media 2021
  • Where There's Smoke
    Where There's Smoke
    30"x20" Mixed Media 2022
  • Soyinka
    Soyinka
    30"x20" Mixed Media 2022
  • Self Portrait.jpg
    Self Portrait.jpg
    Self Portrait 60"x48" 152.4x121.92cm Mixed Media 2021

Drawings

“Learning to draw is really a matter of learning to see – to see correctly – and that means a good deal more than merely looking with the eye.”Kimon Nicolaides
  • George Stinney
    George Stinney
    George S. 38"x50" Charcoal 2019
  • Student
    Student
    50"x38" Charcoal On Paper
  • Ebony
    Ebony
  • Ebony2
    Ebony2
  • Student 2
    Student 2
    50"x38" Charcoal On Paper
  • Hooded
    Hooded
    Hooded 30"x22" Charcoal 2019
  • Eve (Masked)
    Eve (Masked)
    Masked 30"x22" Graphite 2016
  • Mask Fang
    Mask Fang
    22"x30" Graphite
  • George
    George
    George Digital Drawing 2020
  • Untitled
    Untitled
    30"x22" Graphite and Paint Maker 2021

Murals

“Don’t have much to say that wouldn’t look better on a wall.” - BiP
  • Yemaya
    Yemaya
    Mural painted in Cali, Colombia 28'x8'
  • Yemaya 1
    Yemaya 1
    Mural Painted at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA for Wonderroot. 60'x25'
  • Penn-North, Baltimore
    Penn-North, Baltimore
    Sankofa
  • ToniM.jpg
    ToniM.jpg
    Toni Morrison Graffiti Alley
  • Roy.jpg
    Roy.jpg
    Roy Hargrove Graffiti Alley
  • Rochester, NY
    Rochester, NY
    Hendricks
  • East Bmore
    East Bmore
  • Monk
    Monk
  • Park and North (Baltimore,MD)
    Park and North (Baltimore,MD)
    Murals painted for the Bolton Hill community.
  • North and Collington (East Baltimore)
    North and Collington (East Baltimore)
    Painted in tribute to Pontella Mason.