My name is Yolanda Barnes and I am a native of Chicago Heights, Illinois. I took a risk and relocated to Shreveport 5 years ago after a painful divorce and ending a marriage of 36 years. I have never regretted it. I am…what I’d like to call… an evolving artist. I have always loved art in some form. I used to love to sketch pictures of family members occasionally when I was in grade school. However, in large part, my gift lay dormant until around 9 years ago. I felt that I was divinely prompted to paint when I found some discarded art supplies on a curb in my neighborhood! In recent years, art has been the catalyst for my healing through intense personal challenges and losses. As a result…I have been able to channel feelings and various experiences through my art. While I mainly work in acrylics, I also work with pencil and watercolors as well. I love to depict my subjects in bold colors or themes that express my cultural heritage as an African American woman. My work has been displayed at 3 consecutive artist calls at Art Space. I earned an honorable mention during the 2020 event for my piece “Floetry”. My work “Floetry” was also part of “The 9 Muses and the Art of Passion” exhibit held at the R.W. Norton Art Gallery during the fall of 2019. During the onset of the worldwide pandemic last March, The Lord spoke to my heart and told me to begin to make masks. I obeyed and literally became a full-time mask designer for most of 2020! To date I have constructed nearly 2,000 masks and sold them nationwide. I considered this a labor of love and a creative yet vital way to continue to express myself artistically, while also renewing my lost vocation as a professional seamstress. I describe my work as expressive and evolving. My desire is to inspire others to step into their creative callings…whatever it may be.