We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jasmine Blake a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jasmine , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Crazy stuff happening is almost as certain as death and taxes – it’s technically “unexpected” but something unexpected happening is to be expected and so can you share a crazy story with our readers.

The craziest thing that happened to me was on March 31st 2019. One of my favorite hip hop artists was coming to Atlanta to do a concert. Once I found out, I was beyond excited. Immediately. I bought front row tickets!! The next day I went to work thinking it would be so amazing if I could gift Tobe Nwigwe wife one of my custom denim jackets.

Brainstorming began to kick in and it dawned on me, I’ll paint someone who will always have Fat back, her husband Tobe. At the end of my shift, I went home and blasted Tobe music. The exact song was Shine. My creative mind went to work and two days later, the jacket was completed.

At that moment, I was proud of and hopeful I could gift Fat with the jacket. The day of the concert, I stood in line to get in and so many people walked up to me saying how dope the jacket was. It was to the point people began asking to take pictures. Honestly, it was pretty cool but was not prepared for the attention I received once I entered the concert.

Tobe and his family began their first song of the night and the crowd was loving every minute of it, including myself. By the end of the concert, one of the security guards who was standing next to me kept saying he was going to get Tobe attention so he could see the jacket.

Well, as Tobe began to introduce his team, Fat looks directly at me and said my jacket was FYE. At the end of the concert, I was able to meet the entire crew and take pictures with Fat. Not to mention, she is now the owner of the Tobe custom painted jacket. Now that’s dope and pretty crazy!!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

Hello world!!

I’m Blake, a local Paint Artist/ Graphic Designer based in the Atlanta area.

Since the age of nine I have been creating and drawing any and everything in my path. It was not until eight years ago that I taught myself how to paint. Talk about time consuming! However, it was definitely worth it. Back in the day, I would take commision pieces from people I went to school and played basketball with. I would draw their basketball sneakers on paper, color them with markers and incorporate glitter to make the sneakers pop more. In middle/high school I was making up to $300-$400 a week. If you asked me I was rich!!!

That is when I decided it was time for me to do more with my skills. I would sit outside on the weekends or during the summer, sketch and color my neighbors house on the big poster boards from Dollar Tree. Once the drawing was completed, I would knock on the neighbors door and hope he or she would purchase my one of a kind piece. Majority of the time, they would buy my art.

Six years ago, I took a leap of faith and decided to start up my own business. In 2019, I decided to rebrand myself. Was it easy, of course not!! With hard work and dedication, IT’S POSSIBLE! My ultimate goal is to make people feel comfortable, happy, and different as I bring their visions to life. Since rebranding my business, I’ve been able to work and paint clothing for some amazing people. People like, GameOvaSkip, and Tobe Nwigwe. There’s been a few artists that has liked, reshared or commented on my artwork. People such as Ella Mai, Tobe Nwigwe, Phylicia Rashad, Chrissete Michelle, and Brande.Elise. Receiving love from these individuals truly inspired be to keep going.

The few items I use when painting are any items I see in sight. However, I do have a few go to’s such as sticks paper, glass and a pallet knife. The only paint I use are acrylics but water color has been on my mind lately. Hopefully, my story and brand has inspired others to know when life happens, don’t give up. Start small, build your way up, and hustle. Get back up and continue to walk in your purpose.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

A couple of things that helped me build my reputation was quality, getting orders in on time and being myself.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

The most effective startegy for growing my clientele would definitely have to be being consistent. People love to see consistency!! It is that simple.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.blakehouseofart.com
• Instagram: @blakehouseofart
• Facebook: Blake House of Art