Mia DuVall

05/11/2020

“Dare to love yourself
as if you were a rainbow
with gold at both ends.”
― Author-Poet Aberjhani
🌈✨🌈✨🌈✨🌈
I just really love this quote and I thought it goes really well with these selfies! 🙌🏾💖🙌🏾 Yeeesss...😜😎✨
Things aren’t always sweet, especially currently. However, I find a way to turn my magic on , shine my light and push through. Learning how to do this and the value in it has taken years of facing and overcome an abnormal amount of adversity. I don’t really think the volume of adversity I’ve faced is unusual (we all go through things) but I do know how I approach it and handle it is. I believe doing your best to be a positive motivating force (especially if the spirit moves you) and shining your light even through adversity in someway benefits us all.
So consider turning your magic on! Make a concerted effort to shine and sparkle in the most brilliant magical way possible. I guarantee not only will it make you feel better but it will uplift the folks around you and inspire them to do the same.
Mia’s on a mission y’all! Watch me work! 💖🤗💖
✨🎱❤️💛💚💙🎱✨

@ Anacostia

04/20/2020

“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

— Maya Angelou
Mya Angelou for the win again!!! 🙌🏾💖🙌🏾Again, thank you Mya Angelou for leaving us a seemingly infinite well of wisdom! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
I follow a very basic philosophy in life but especially in my art practice. It’s simply ABC, Always Be Creating. 💖👩🏾‍🎨💖 I learned a while ago that absolutely nothing matters more than the doing or better the intentional focused doing which is practice. Talent is a brilliant thing to have but it’s the doing/practice that makes things happen and where the magic begins.
If a seed is never planted a tree can’t grow. If a mark is never made a master piece can’t be painted. If a note is never played a captivating melody can’t be composed. If a word is never penned a brilliant thought challenging manifesto that changes hearts, minds and ultimately the world can never be written. So while many of our cups runneth over with an abundance of time I encourage you... No, I implore you to do, do, do! Strengthen the muscle we all have called creativity! Like our hearts, the more you use it the stronger it becomes! ❤️🤗❤️ Be the creator/cocreator you are and ABC everyday. 🤘🏾👌🏾🤘🏾
Just sharing a few works in progress and a bit more reflection while do’n my best to stay productive and sane during this unprecedented world wide pause.🤷🏾‍♀️
Wishing everyone abundant health, peace of mind and the wisdom that allows you to recognize your intrinsic power to manifest. 💖💪🏾💖
Mia’s on a mission y’all!!! Watch me work!!! 🙌🏾💖🙌🏾
😎✨🎱❤️💛💚💙🎱✨😎
@ Anacostia

04/19/2020

“If you’re going to live, leave a legacy. Make a mark on the world that can’t be erased.”
— Maya Angelou
Hey y’all, I finally made my mark!!!🙌🏾💖🙌🏾 Also, thank you Mya Angelou for your legendary profundity!!!! 💖🙏🏾💖
I wrapped up the Busboys and Poets piece this past week and actually signed my name y’all! 💖🖋💖 I couldn’t be happier, as this marks some serious growth and evolution! 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 For the past few years I’ve really been focused on putting my work and myself out in the world. The one very important thing I still struggled with was remembering to sign my name to the completed work. 😖 There are so many things that contributed to this odd behavior but that’s definitely for another time or for my TED Talk 🤔😜😎😆😆😆
After the birth of my G-Child,Sage I began to truly see and understand the importance of my legacy. See... I may never get to know or see the man he becomes but I want to make sure he (along with my girls as well as my nieces, nephews, cousins etc.) always knows who I am long after I’m gone.
So please pardon this lil zealous display of vanity. I’m simply excited about this growth. To quote one of my favorite emcees/bands/songs (Black Thought/The Roots/The Seed2.0), “I don't ask for much, but enough room to spread these wings,
And the world finna know my name...” 😎
Mia’s on a mission y’all! Watch me work! 💖🤗💖
✨🎱❤️💛💚💙🎱✨
.0

@ Busboys and Poets Brookland

04/12/2020

🎶“I'm in the high-fidelity first class travelling set�And I think I need a Lear jet...”🎶
If my social distancing scarf (and these lyrics) mean anything to you beyond protecting you from the droplets flying out of my mouth when I’m speaking we’re probably meant to be friends! 💖🤗💖
Yes, I’ve got N95 masks and the like for protection but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to wear this and rep one of my all time favorite bands/albums!!! Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” is that album!!! I only wear this scarf when working solely for social distancing purposes. I don’t need the heavy stuff; It’s just me out here!🤷🏾‍♀️
Oh yeah, the piece behind me. 🤦🏾‍♀️ I’m so excited about my scarf I almost forgot the purpose of the post. We’ve finally got color y’all!!! So, here’s a peak at this work in progress I’m beyond thrilled with. I have a few more details to add but this thang is dazzling already!!!🌈❤️🤩
I’m so happy to be out here (do’n what I LOVE) participating in campaign. The feedback on this piece has been overwhelmingly positive. The community LOVES it! Happy to be winding this project down and wrapping this thing up. If you see me out there feel free to honk or holla!
Mia’s on a misson y’all!!! Watch me work!!!💖🤗💖
✨🎱❤️💛💚💙🎱✨
@ Busboys and Poets Brookland

04/11/2020

And now, for my next magic trick... 💖👩🏾‍🎨💖 I’m about to show you what a bit of design, a healthy dose of creativity, a lil bit of paint and a whole lot of LOVE ❤️ can do!
Working on this project has been my salvation this week. It’s kept me grounded and sane ‘cause man, It’s been a hell of a week to say the least! I hope everybody’s hang’n in there.
I’m so happy to be out of the house (do’n what I LOVE) participating in campaign. I’m even happier to have the chance to send some positive messages in such a grand way.
Weather permitting (it’s been real schizophrenic), I’ll be wrapping up soon. The piece has exceeded my expectations and is quite dazzling. If you’ve seen it in its current state please let me know how you feel about it! Or if you see me out there feel free to honk or holla!
Mia’s on a misson y’all!!! Watch me work!!!💖🤗💖
✨🎱❤️💛💚💙🎱✨
@ Busboys and Poets Brookland

04/07/2020

Work in Progress... 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾Yeeess🙌🏾💖🙌🏾 I’ve been in the lab with a pen and a pad trying to... y’all know the rest. 😎😜

As we are all participating in this unprecedented “World Wide Pause”, I’ve been using my time to re-evaluate, plan and co-create. Just making the best use of my time while spending all these days and weeks inside. So I’m super happy to finally be out in the world (do’n what I LOVE) participating in campaign. Thought it was a great opportunity to spread some love and joy by sending some positive messages I know we all need right now! Gotta get back and warp this thing up. If you see me out there feel free to honk or holla!
Mia’s on a misson y’all!!! Watch me work!!!💖🤗💖
✨🎱❤️💛💚💙🎱✨
@ Brookland

02/11/2020

“The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.”
— Emile Zola
Here are a few work in progress pics from one of the projects that kicked my butt last year. Yeah, I look a lil crazy here but man was it worth it! I learned so much from everything I went through working on these projects. I recently came across the above quote and felt it really sums up everything regarding this work!
Having a professional art practice (working for yourself) is no joke!!! Some days I wonder if I’m in denial about being a ma*****st ‘cause doing this work often suggests I like inflicting pain upon myself. Seriously, I love do’n this work so much but it requires a level of mentally and physically draining hard work and discipline that feels other worldly at times. Although it can be taxing on so many levels I’m in love with it! I’ve been on this journey pursuing a career as a professional visual creator/artist for about seven years now. Through this journey I’ve learned so many valuable things. I’ve learned that life is work, practice is simply focused intentional “doing” and no matter how gifted/talented you may be... you gotta put the work in consistently to maintain your skills/gifts and to grow! In addition, unbiased self assessment is difficult but necessary. You’ve constantly gotta be willing to be honest with yourself on a level that is almost humanly impossible. Ultimately, gifts or talent in most cases are really the manifestation of a focused intentional practice and ones ability to be honest with themselves. Being honest with myself regarding my skill level and the amount of work and time I have put into my practice is really the fertile ground my growth is rooted in. So, although many of us have been blessed with a gift/talent, at the end of the day the gift don’t work unless you do...lol😎😜😎👏🏾👏🏾
Working on this piece was a lot of work but a lot of fun. I’ll share the time lapse vid and more about it in a later post.
Mia’s on a mission y’all!!! Watch me work!!! 💖💪🏾💖
😎✨🎱❤️💛💚💙🎱✨😎
@ Anacostia

03/31/2019