Andrea Revelle was born in Virginia, but raised all over. Andrea’s love of art began at age 10. She started tracing pictures of her cousin Marlon Bowers that he would throw away from his art desk— he was amazing to her because of all the things he could do with a pencil. Andrea credits her cousin with teaching her everything she needed to know about drawing, without even knowing it.
Andrea didn’t want to show Marlon any of her work until she considered herself good enough, but then one day he caught her drawing
“I was trying to create shadow and depth using only my pencil and my fingers to smudge in shadow and highlights,” Andrea reflects. “I remember Marlon smiling at me and saying here, let me show you.”
That was the beginning. I fell in love with creating and the rest is history. I sold my first painting when I was a freshman in high school for $100.That’s when I realized that I could make money from doing something that I loved. I went on to attend Virginia Common Wealth School of the Arts in Richmond, Virginia. I’ve been on this creative path ever since.
Daydreams drift sideways into portals like never ending inkwells overflowing my pallet, paint stained finger tips caress my brush, dripping rainbows of spirits from past lives, leaving prints of forever on my memory. Look through Mahogany Windows then you’ll see me, remember me when the impression left lingering in your thoughts become a beautiful fixture in your mind’s eye, like when you see a black butterfly fly by. That’s the place I seek to find, I want to touch your beautiful mind. Art is beautiful, but if it doesn’t make you feel, it’s just a pretty memory. I want my art to stay with you forever. I want you to see the way I see. Mahogany Windows; the eyes are the windows to your soul. What does your soul look like? Let me show you!
I find such joy in making people happy with my art. I’m inspired by life and the amazing work of wonderful African American female artists like Mehreen Murtaza and Wangechi Mutu. Murtaza blends elements of science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism with pan African images to create beautiful pieces. Mutu uses mixed media to produce large collages and installations representative of the black female form. Andrea loves it all, but her my main inspiration comes back to her first teacher, Marlon Bowers. Before he passed away he made her promise to always create art and touch people with beauty. He told Andrea, “art is your gift and you have to share it!”
So she promised to do just that—to create at all costs.
For media and booking inquiries, contact us at info (at) jswmediagroup (dot) com or call 704.965.3297.
