Walk down the four steps to the dark door of The Jefferson Speakeasy on Kilvert Street in Warwick. No need to give a secret knock, or say “Louie sent me” like in the movies. Just walk in and step back to the Prohibition Era. Notorious mobster Al Capone won’t be seated at a table in […]
Illustrator and animator Georgia Darley Oldham of Providence doodled her way onto the cover of Motif’s Summer Guide. When she received the assignment from art director Olivia Lunger, Oldham started doodling and sketching out a bunch of ideas. “I asked myself what images come to mind when I think of summer,” she says, while sipping […]
“This is not a sad story,” declared Daniel Crenca on the closing of his family restaurant, NicoBella’s, in downtown PVD, after a 10-year run that weathered a pandemic, a partial bridge closure, rising rents, and a dramatic hike in electricity costs. The final straw was, facetiousness aside, the rising price of eggs. “It is a […]
“As an artist, you need to have an open mind to learn and grow,” says Motif cover and tattoo artist Jay Blackburn of Pawtucket, “You’re constantly learning,” he emphasizes. Speaking in his workspace at Unicorn Ink, a tattoo parlor in Lincoln, the artist says he wanted to do something fun and different for the cover. […]
Appropriately, artist and writer Kim Arthurs of Providence created a garden dreamscape for the cover of the outdoors issue. They used a technique called cyanotype, which incorporates the elements of earth, air, water, and fire. Discovered in 1842 by astronomer John Herschel, cyanotype was popularized a year later by botanist Anna Atkins, who released a […]
For the cannabis cover, East Providence skateboard artist Jeff Wheeler used bright, neon colors. “I wanted a black light poster, something people look at when they’re stoned,” he says. Taking center stage in the illustration is the quahog, our Ocean State’s official shellfish. The hard-shelled clam takes a toke and a nearby frog and squirrel […]
“I’m not trying to say something specific with my artwork,” said Adèle Saint-Pierre at the March 14 launch of her exhibit at Riffraff Bookstore and Bar in the West End of Providence. “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t say something to those who view it.” The Franco-American artist finds inspiration in the human and animal […]
Poet and illustrator Jess Rizkallah of Boston begins her poem, “in another dimension i am a good daughter” with: i wake up early / i sweep the floor / i put coffee on the nar my arabic is serpentine / through dirt / ready to strike / yet i slice apples in silence / as […]
A few months ago, cover artist Grechel Rosado of Providence felt like she was burning out. Creating a piece of art every month, while juggling a full-time job, was becoming hard to sustain. Then, she came across The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. “The book shows how to build a relationship with creativity,” Rosado explains, […]
In creating the cover for this issue, Amelia Rozear of Providence says she wanted to depict “the glow of warmth after a cold, cold winter. It’s the grandeur of spring taking over, and taking over someone totally.” A tea lover, one of her favorite cafés is Tea in Sahara; this is evident in her cover […]