Today we’d like to introduce you to DeAndré West
Hi DeAndré, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m originally from Warner Robins, Georgia but I spent a lot of my childhood in Henderson, Georgia & Kathaleen, Georgia.
I moved out on my own & to Savannah when I was 19. I worked at Enterprise rental car washing car & while working there I was working with singer/actress D’Atra Hicks to try & publish a poetry book. That fell flat.
I was fired from Enterprise & started working at Georgia Regional Hospital-Savannah on the recovery wing in 2014. While working on the floor, I was able to write & self publish 3 books.
“The Women In The Black Dress” , “Katalyna” & “The Kiss Of Yellow” which are available on Amazon.
That job taught me ALOT! Patience, Respect, Discipline, How to care for someone when they are in a crisis, it showed me how to show up.
I worked on the floor for 4 years then in 2018 I was hired at “The Treatment Mall.” To facilitate groups. There I taught Expressive Arts, Coping Skills, Unapologetically You, & an Exercise Group.
Working at the Treatment Mall is when I really started taking painting serious.
Any skill set I learned I taught it to my class. That is also where I began to experiment with textures on paintings.
A lot of trial & error but I enjoyed every moment of it.
I began filling my home at the time with all of my creations, from clay sculptures, paintings & photograph’s I had taken.
My creativity really started to bloom.
I began working & displaying with Zay Hutchins at his Sunday Supper event in 2022 & that began my artistic journey. Zay actually gave me my first opportunity to display my work.
After we wrapped the weekend show up
Oct 31, 2022, in that very home I had loved & decorated, I lost my best friend to depression, two weeks after that I returned to work & my job tried to send me to a suicide prevention training, then terminated me.
I lost my best friend, I lost my job then I lost my house.
I had no where to turn so I just started painting & my creativity blossomed like no other.
My artwork was there when no one else was. My artwork quieted & softened my mind.
It allowed me to breathe & say what I needed to say.
A lot of my artwork is a page from my journal.
I continued to paint & create.
While painting will forever be my heart & soul.
I’ve found myself dabbling in photography, digital editing, clothing design & comedy.
On TikTok I’ve created this character named
“Nanny-Memaw” & she leaves unhinged voicemails on people’s phone.
I just make them to help someone laugh, to bring them out of whatever negative thing they may be dealing with at the time. I want to help people escape the things that are troubling them even if it’s only for 60 seconds. For those 60 seconds you smiled, laughed & forgot about the situation that was upsetting you.
I have made at least 64 of them. Some with sound effects added.
They are pretty fun to make honestly. I’m hoping to do more with the character & videos soon.
I have taken a lot of really nice photos & have done nothing with them, I have a hoodie website where I put my photography on the hoodies & I’ve turned a lot of my selfies into some pretty cool pictures.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Rough.
Trying to navigate & balance life, art, work, & mental health struggles along the way.
It has not been easy.
Losing my best friend to depression was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone thru especially since I was right there trying to stop it.
I needed a moment but the world kept going, everyone kept going & I was stuck in that moment.
Finding places to display my artwork is also hard because I personally feel as though sometimes my work isn’t understood. I’ll email owners of coffee shops asking to display & most times I get met with no responses or they’ll tell me to wait 3-6 months & when the 3-6 months is over I hear nothing back.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an Abstract Textured Artist but also an all around creative. I do photography, digitial editing, etc.
I love using texture on my pieces.
My signature would be the large textured finger print which symbolizes my presence. I want people to know I was here, I loved & I was loved. I made people smile & laugh.
My other signature would be the one butterfly wing.
That symbol represents my journey & all the things I did & went thru on my own.
Most of my journey I flew with one wing.
I’m most proud of getting myself out there & having people seeing my work & telling me how it touched them.
I create funny TikTok’s, I take amazing photos & do nothing with them.
I’m an all around creative I like to think.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was on myself & that was moving out at 19.
Not only did I move out, I moved 2 hours away from anyone I knew.
I was on my own figuring life out. I learned who I was & I was able to live in who I was without worrying about if my family would approve or be disappointed.
I had no plan, I just knew there was no one’s life back in my hometown that I wanted.
I evolved, blossomed & am continuing to blossom into this beautiful being.
Take risk!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.saatchiart.com/account/profile/2216569
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dreski____/profilecard/
- LinkedIn: https://doodlesxdoodle.creator-spring.com/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@_deandr.e
