First Light Of Freedom: Juneteenth Gathering

When I painted this piece, I imagined a moment long overdue—African American women gathering, cloaked in ceremony and light, celebrating the very first Juneteenth. I saw them as carriers of memory, of children, of liberation itself. Some held babies close to their breast like ancestral offerings to a future no longer shackled. Their clothes, radiant with colorful hues, were not just festive—they were declarations of survival, beauty, and agency. The elongated forms, luminous green auras, and simplified features were intentional, inviting the viewer to witness not individual portraits, but a collective spirit rising. The indigo woods themselves are not bound to a single time or place. They exist somewhere between dream and history, shaped by memory and imagination. The trees—stand tall like sentinels or songlines, their trunks not only reaching upward but rooting in all directions, as if charting the many paths now open, the freedom to move, to choose, to become, This  piece doesn’t aim for historical exactitude in setting but rather emotional truth. I wanted the viewer to feel what I felt as I painted: a quiet awe, a swelling pride, a bone-deep knowing that freedom—though delayed—was worthy of joy and ceremony. That joy, especially as held by Black women, is revolutionary. This is our sacred gathering. Our light in the dark. Our becoming.   Prices are in USD $ Giclée Stretched Canvas Print Giclee print on museum quality 410gsm polycotton canvas. Stretched on 1.5 inch pine wood and back wire. Ready to hang. 12in x 10in 16in x 13in 20in x 16in 24in x 19in 30in x 24in 36in x 29in Acrylic Print 1/8 (3mm) thick Digital grade Acrylic with back floating Frame of 1 inch thick. Ready to hang. 12in x 10in 16in x 13in 20in x 16in 24in x 19in 30in x 24in 36in x 29in Wood Print 5mm Birch Wood with back floating Frame of 1 inch thick. Ready to hang. 12in x 10in 16in x 13in 20in x 16in 24in x 19in 30in x 24in 36in x 29in Brushed Metal Print 3mm Brushed Metal Print with back floating Frame of 1 inch thick. Ready to hang. 12in x 10in 16in x 13in 20in x 16in 24in x 19in 30in x 24in 36in x 29in HD Sublimation Metal Print High Gloss Sublimation on Chromalux Panel with back floating Frame of 1 inch thick. Ready to hang. 12in x 10in 16in x 13in 20in x 16in 24in x 19in 30in x 24in 36in x 29in Giclée Rolled Canvas Print Giclee print on museum quality 410gsm polycotton canvas. 12in x 10in 16in x 13in 20in x 16in 24in x 19in 30in x 24in 36in x 29in Giclée Poster Satin Photo Paper Print Giclee print on Resin coated Satin Photo Paper 240gsm. 12in x 10in 16in x 13in 20in x 16in 24in x 19in 30in x 24in 36in x 29in Giclée Fine Art Matte Paper Print Giclee print on Fine Art Matte Paper. 12in x 10in 16in x 13in 20in x 16in 24in x 19in 30in x 24in 36in x 29in Framed Print Mounted with Plexiglass and Frame. Ready to hang. 12in x 10in 16in x 13in 20in x 16in 24in x 19in 30in x 24in 36in x 29in