Inspirational Women Series

The Inspirational Women Series started off as an open ended illustration of Coco Chanel for The Perpetual You magazine. After deciding to use the medium of Japanese ink and calligraphy brushes for the first image, I knew I had to continue painting women who I identified as being strong, determined, and contributing a unique impact on the world. My technique utilizes the study of values starting with the darkest values and working my way back to the lightest values. Each piece takes several hours to create from start to finish.
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Meghan, Duchess of Sussex 1981- Actress

Meghan Markle became Duchess of Sussex when she married Prince Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA and has a mixed ethic heritage. She is a former actress who played Rachel Zane on the American legal drama, “Suits”. She is also a feminist and has addressed issues of gender inequality, women's rights, and social justice.

Anne Frank 1929-1945 Author of The Diary of Anne Frank

Anne Frank was a German-born Dutch-Jewish diarist. She is one of the most discussed victims of the Holocaust. She gained fame posthumously with the publication of The Diary of a Young Girl, in which she documented her life in hiding from 1942-1944 during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. Her father, the only surviving member of her family, led efforts to its original publication in 1947. It was first published in English in 1952 and has since been translated in over 60 languages.

Zoë Keating 1972-Contempory Cellist

Zoë Keating is a Canadian-born cellist and composer once based in San Francisco, now based in Vermont. From 2002-2006, she performed as second chair in the cello rock band Rasputina. In her solo performances and recordings, Keating uses live electronic sampling and repetition in order to layer the sound of her cello, creating rhythmically dense musical structures. Her songs have been featured in various commercials, TV shows, films, video games, and dance performances. In 2011 she won the award for Contemporary Classical album from the 10th annual Independent Music Awards.

H.P. Blavatsky 1831-1891-Occultist, Philosopher, and Author

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was a Russian occultist, philosopher, and author who co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an international following as the leading theoretician of Theosophy, the esoteric religion that the society promoted. In 1877 she published, Isis Unveiled, where she describes Theosophy as “the synthesis of science, religion, and philosophy”, proclaiming it was reviving an “Ancient Wisdom”, which underlay all the world's religions. She was a controversial figure during her lifetime, yet her Theosophical doctrines influenced the spread of Buddhist ideas in the west as well as the New Age Movement.

JK Rowling 1965- Novelist, Philanthropist

JK Rowling is the author of the Harry Potter novels, originally published between 1997-2007. She was working as a researcher and a bilingual secretary for Amnesty International when she conceived the idea for the Harry Potter series in 1990. She has lived a “rags to riches” life in which she progressed from living on benefits to being the world's first billionaire author. She lost her status after giving away much of her earnings to charity, but remains one of the wealthiest people in the world. She is the ninth-best-selling fiction author of all time.

Pamela Coleman Smith 1878-1951 Illustrator

Pamela Coleman Smith aka Pixie was a British artist, illustrator, writer, and occultist. She is best known for illustrating the Rider-Waite tarot deck of divinatory tarot cards also called the Rider-Waite-Smith deck for Arthur Edward Waite. She completed the artwork for the deck in 6 months in 1909 (which is a lot for 80 illustrations)!

Tina Turner (1939-) Singer + Actress

Tina Turner is a Swiss singer and actress, although she is originally from the United States. Tina is one of the best selling recording artists of all time and has been referred to as The Queen of Rock 'n' Roll and has sold more than 200 million records worldwide. She is known for her energetic stage presence, powerful vocals, and career longevity. Rolling Stone ranked her 63rd on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time and 17th on its list of 100 greatest singers of all time.

Dr. Valerie Thomas (1943-) Scientist + Inventor

Dr. Valerie Thomas is an African-American scientist and inventor. She invented the Illusion Transmitter, a device that NASA continues to use today and for which she received a patent for in 1980. She pursued science and math despite the fact that she was not encouraged to pursue these fields from her father or the high school she attended. At Morgan University, she was one of two women majoring in Physics and went on to work for NASA after graduation in 1964. She retired from NASA in 1995, but continues to serve as a mentor for youth through the Science Mathematics Aerospace Research and Technology and National Technical Association.

Ronnie Spector (1943-) Singer

Ronnie Spector is an American singer who fronted the girl group the Ronettes wither her older sister and their cousin. Together, they had a string of hits during the 1960's such as “Be My Baby”, “Baby, I Love You”, and “The Best Part of Breakin' Up”. Subsequently, Spector launched a solo career and has since released five studio albums. She experienced a career resurgence when she was featured on Eddie Money's Grammy nominated pop rock song “Take Me Home Tonight”. She is called the original “bad girl of rock and roll”. In 2004 she was recognized for her contribution to American popular music when she was inducted in the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. In 2007, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Ronettes.

Serena Williams 1981- Tennis Player

Serena Williams is an American professional tennis player. The WTA (Women's Tennis Association) ranked her world No. 1 in singles on eight separate occasions between 2002 and 2017. She holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined among active players. She has also received several awards for her activism directed primarily towards Black communities.

Malala Yousafzai 1997- Activist

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. She is known for her human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children in her native northern Pakistan, where the Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. In 2012, a Taliban gunman shot her in the head with a bullet in an assassination attempt in retaliation for her activism. Following her recovery, she founded the Malala Fund which offers education for girls aged 14- 18 years and in 2013 co-authored I Am Malala, an international best seller.

Christine Jorgensen 1926-1989 America's First Trans Woman

Christine Jorgensen was an American trans woman who was the first person who became widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery in her twenties. Shortly after graduating from high school in 1945, she was drafted into the US Army during World War II. After her service, she traveled to Denmark and obtained special permission to undergo a series of operations starting in 1951. In 1953, upon her return to the United States, she became an instant celebrity, using the platform to advocate for transgender people where she became known for her directness and polished wit. She also worked as an actress and nightclub entertainer and recorded several songs.

Yayoi Kusama 1929- Japanese Contemporary Artist

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese contemporary artist who works primarily in sculpture and installation, but is also active in painting, performance, film, fashion, poetry, fiction, and other arts. Her work is based in conceptual art, and shows some attributes of feminism, minimalism, surrealism, Art Brut, pop art, and abstract impressionism. Her work is infused with autobiographical, psychological and sexual content. One of her most prominent motifs include the vast fields of polka dots, or “infinity nets” as she calls them. These were taken directly from her hallucinations she began to experience as early as 10 years of age. Her art became her escape from her family and her own mind when she began to have hallucinations. In 1977, she checked herself into Seiwa Hospital for the Mentally Ill, where she eventually took up permanent residence.

Coco Chanel 1883-1971-Fashion Designer

Coco Chanel was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with liberating women from the constraints of the “corseted silhouette” and popularizing a sporty, casual chic as the feminine standard of style. Her signature scent, Chanel No. 5 has become an iconic product. She is the only fashion designer listed on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. Chanel herself designed her famed interlocked-CC monogram, which has been in use since the 1920's.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg 1933- Associate Justice of the Supreme Court

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an American lawyer and jurist who is an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. She earned her bachelors degree at Cornell University and became a wife and mother before starting law school at Harvard and then transferred to Columbia Law School where she tied for first in her class, in a field dominated by men. She has spent a considerable part of her legal career as and advocate for the advancement of gender equality and women's rights, winning multiple victories arguing before the Supreme Court. She has received attention in American popular culture for her fiery liberal dissents and refusal to step down and has been dubbed the “Notorious RBG”.

Greta Thunberg (2003)-Environmental Activist

Greta Thunberg is a Swedish teenage environmental activist on climate change whose campaigning has gained international recognition. She is known for her blunt, straightforward speaking manner and has convinced her parents to adopt several lifestyle choices to reduce their carbon footprint by giving up air travel and not eating meat. In May 2019 she was featured on the cover of Time magazine which named her a “next generation leader”.

Katherine Johnson (1918-2020) Mathematician + Scientist

Katherine Johnson was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. During her 35-year career at NASA, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. The space agency noted her “historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist.” In 2015, President Barak Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2019 was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.

Ursula K. Le Guin 1929-2018-Author

Ursula K. Le Guin was an American author who was best known for her works of speculative fiction, science fiction, and the Earthsea fantasy series. She had a literary career that spanned nearly 60 years, publishing over twenty novels, 100 short stories in addition to many volumes of poetry, literary criticism, translations and children's books. Her work was strongly influenced by cultural anthropology, Taoism, feminism, and the writings of Carl Jung.

Annie Leibovitz 1949- Photographer

Annie Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer. She is best known for her engaging portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. She worked for Rolling Stone as chief photographer for 10 years and her intimate portraits helped define the magazine's look. She photographed John Lennon on the day he was murdered and her work has been used on numerous album covers and magazines. She became the first woman to hold an exhibition at Washington's National Portrait Gallery in 1991.

Lucia Cifarelli 1970- Musician in KMFDM

Lucia Cifarelli is an American musician, best known for her work with electro-industrial band KMFDM. She was formerly the vocalist for the band Drill and began her association with KMFDM after being chosen as a member of the group's 2000-2001 side project, MDFMK. Her solo album, From the Land of Volcanoes, included a track, “I Will” that was featured on the soundtrack of the film American Pie 2.

Emma Gonzalez 1999- Guns Right Activist

Emma Gonzalez is an American activist and advocate for gun control. As a high school senior, she survived the February 2018 Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. In response to her survival, she co-founded the gun-control advocacy group, Never Again MSD.

Maria Tallchief 1925-2013 Prima Ballerina

Elizabeth Marie “Betty”Tallchief was an American ballerina. She was considered America's first major prima ballerina and was the first Native American to hold the rank. She started formal dance lessons at age three and when she was eight years old, her family relocated from her birth home of Fairfax, Oklahoma to Los Angeles, California to advance the careers of her and her younger sister. At seventeen, she moved to NYC in search of a spot with a major ballet company and took the name Maria Tallchief, where she met the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. She became famous for her ability to follow Balanchine's difficult choreography and her passionate dancing especially in The Firebird and her role as the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker.

Autumn Peltier 2004-Water Activist

Autumn Peltier is Anishinaabe-kwe and a member of the Wikwemikong First Nation in Ontario, Canada. She is an internationally recognized advocate for clean water. She is a water protector and has been called “water warrior”. She gained national and international notice when at a meeting of the Assembly of the First Nations, she presented Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with a copper water pot, and even though she did not have time to deliver her speech, she confronted Trudeau on his record on water protection and support for his pipelines. In September 2019 she was nominated for an International Children's Peace Prize.

Grace Jones (1948-) Model, Singer/Songwriter, Actress

Grace Jones is a Jamaican model, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She began her modeling career in New York state, then Paris, working for Yves St. Laurent and Kenzo and appearing on the covers of Elle and Vogue. She became known for her distinctive androgynous appearance and bold features. In 1977 she started her music career, initially becoming a star of Studio 54's disco scene. In the 1980's she moved towards a new wave style that drew from reggae, funk, post-punk, and pop music. Jones influenced the cross-dressing movement of the 1980's and in 2016, Billboard magazine ranked her as the 40th greatest dance club artist of all time.

Lisette Titre-Mongomery is an American video game artist and designer. After seeing Toy Story, She was inspired to study computer animation. She has worked at Backbone Entertainment, EA Games, Ubisoft, and currently works for Double Fine Productions. Titre is also involved in promoting diversity in video games and computer programming. She is a member of Blacks in Gaming, a nonprofit group that provides networking and opportunities for African Americans working in the gaming industry. She is also involved in Black Girls Code and Girls Who Code. She was featured in Essence in 2018 in an article called “15 Black Women Who Are Paving the Way in STEM and Breaking Barriers.”

Theda Bara (1885-1955) Actress

Theda Bara was an American silent film and stage actress. She was one of the more popular actresses of the silent era and one of cinema's early sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickame, “The Vamp”. Bara made more than 40 films between 1914-1926, but most were lost in the 1937 Fox vault fire. Her most famous role in the epic Cleopatra (1917) became one of her biggest hits. After her marriage to Charles Brabin in 1921, she made two more feature films and then retired from acting in 1926, never appearing in a sound film.