Andrea McCoy Harvey is a 48 year old native of Little Rock, Arkansas by way of Tracy, California.  She is a mother of four children ages 27, 22, 19 and 18. Andrea received her formal art training at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff an HBCU, with a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education in 1995. Andrea is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., and a public school Art Teacher for Emery Unified School District. Andrea’s Art teaching experience has been her primary career for over twenty two years. She has taught art to grade levels K-12. 

My inspiration for this series of artwork was inspired by the beauty and strength of the African American person.  I chose this genre because it is a derivative of my inner being.  I am and will always be each one of these portraits.  As you can see, I have focused on using soft pastels, oil pastels and some hints of acrylic.  This mix media technique spoke to me as I embraced the warm color palette with contrasting colors. I have also tapped into using Cubism, a style of artwork that is well known by Pablo Picasso. Many of my pieces portray strength, and this  can be defined as the capacity of an object or substance to withstand great force or pressure. In this case it is being defined through our hair, our body, bone structure, history and beauty. The shielded eyes in some pieces have a purpose, the purpose is to protect our minds from the parts of society that tells me that I am less than human.  The geometric shapes in the necks are the roots of  my pride, my black girl magic and tenacity. I incorporate texture and patterns in efforts to showcase the contrasting color schemes throughout the composition. 

 *A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Makeda Queens Art Academy 501(c)(3) non profit.  A youth Art educational program for urban students.