WITH PRIDE

CREATIONS

Shemeah

Biography

Shemeah was born and raised in the Finger Lakes area of central New York State. She grew up hard and fast, learning to take nothing for granted and developing an appreciation for the simple things in life. Art became an outlet and means of expressing the emotions and experiences that words could not convey.  

Shemeah is a self-taught artist with a B.S. in Religious Studies from Niagara University, a M.S. in Art Therapy from Springfield College and a M.Ed. in School counseling from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has spent the past ten years working in the Amherst public schools as an Adjustment Counselor and therapeutic Special Education teacher. She has also worked in the adult and juvenile prison systems, mental health, and social services. While never been trained, Shemeah used community workshops and art centers to expand and explore new skills and techniques. She took a welding class at Snow Farm in Western Massachusetts to discover yet another mode of expression.

While in Western Massachusetts, Shemeah was a part of an all Black women artist collective called, Ewa Awa. With the group she exhibited her work at the Nacul Gallery in Amherst and at various fairs and markets.  

Shemeah current resides in Decatur hoping to make her ways as a visual artist while working as a child and adolescent clinician. She has exhibited in local tea houses and at the Women of Color Arts and Film Festival in Atlanta.

To contact Shemeah, please send an email to withpridecreate@aol.com.

Artist Statement

My art is multifaceted embracing a number of different medium and techniques.  The common element in each endeavor, as in life, is balance; through change (growth) and healing.

However, much of my work is created without conscious thought or conscious involvement in the process.  If I had to explain the meaning of my work, it would sound confused and inconsistent.  The meaning changes as I gain awareness of who I am in relation to my history, culture, family, and society as a whole.

I hesitantly share this work ... but I do not invite projection into what may have been my inspiration.

I do, however, invite introspection

What do you hear?

What do you see?

Allow your story to not only be the lens through which you view the images but as the medium through which your senses allow you to experience and interact with your environment.  Weave your own story into these images and see what you find.  I find myself;

just Shemeah.