We were lucky to catch up with Candice Tavares recently and have shared our conversation below.

Candice, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

With my art I really focus on creating pieces that celebrate the beauty of brown skin and natural hair in a way that feels representative. I want especially Black Women to look at my work see the beauty in it and recognize aspects of their own beauty. And for those that are not represented in the work I want them to see the beauty and be reminded or enlightened to the beauty that naturally exists in the Black community. My desire is really to leave viewers feeling a deep appreciation for the natural beauty and inherent value of Black bodies so that they walk away feeling more confident, and self assured or open and aware. If I can achieve that I believe I’ve build a legacy of love and celebration of Black beauty, culture and creativity. When I am no longer here to explain my work I hope that people will still be captivated by it. That Black women will view and collect my work feeling seen and valued and reassured, that Black children will feel confident and encouraged, that Black men will feel celebrated and appreciated, and the folks who don’t identify as Black will see the beauty in my subjects and be reminded of our shared humanity.

I hope to be remembered for creating art that makes people feel and shifts perspectives for the positive. I also hope to remembered as a kind person who held space and created opportunities for others. I am currently working on opening a new studio and gallery space in West Baltimore and I would like that space to be one that offers opportunity for exposure, mentorship and economic empowerment for new and aspiring artists. My goal with that space will be to encourage more established artist to exhibit with newer emerging or aspiring artist and share information and insight into the business of art in addition to sharing wall space.

Candice, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a wood artist and illustrator creating work that centers around uplifting Black people by through positive, emotionally captivating images. I primarily create wooden portraits, digital illustrations, and charcuterie boards all featuring images of Black beauty or Black love.

I have always been a creative person but during the pandemic, art really shifted from being a hobby to a form of therapy for me. I started to draw what I felt, then moved to drawing what I needed to see: expressions of love from a parent to their child, celebrations of our beauty, the joy of children’s laughter or the act of worshipping. Focusing on the love and the beauty that I know exists within the Black community helped lift me and that joy and self love was something that I wanted to share.

I want people to look at my art and see themselves, to recognize a shade of brown they see when they look in the mirror, to remember what it felt like when their dad held them as a child, to feel the love they felt looking into their baby’s eyes. I want them to be captivated by the rich diversity in our complexions and the beauty and intricacy of our hair and walk away feeling empowered.

For me this art is about destroying negative narratives about blackness and showering Black people with love.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

My business really started with the purchase of my iPad and Apple Pencil. I purchased both on a whim and was encouraged by a friend at work to buy an app called Procreate and start drawing. When I realized that my artwork might be worth sharing and started listing my art on Etsy. Starting the business on Etsy was relatively low cost I had to pay $.20 a print to list the works I wanted to make available for purchase and I didn’t have to pay to print anything until someone had already committed to buying it. That is really how I was able to grow my art business. I only printed what was sold and continued to save all remaining profit and over time was able to reinvest money from online sales to be able to order additional prints for in person pop up markets and eventually buy my own printer. With the money that I made from the sale of digital illustrations I was able to expand into creating other works like my wooden pieces and charcuterie boards and to fund purchasing my own website.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

As I mentioned previously, my business really started on Etsy but at one point I started to see my sales on Etsy really decline. It was super discouraging to see something that was once so profitable really just dry up and I had to pivot to keep my art business afloat. I started to focus more on doing illustration commission work and creating my wooden fine art pieces. I think that experience taught me not to get too comfortable and to always continue to push myself to be a better artist and more creative person.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.noellerx.com
• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/noellerx

Image Credits
The picture of me was shot by Erin Martin, There are not other image credits