Pencil on Paper Gallery

Desmond Blair, a Dallas-based artist is a problem solver and has been ever since childhood. Blair was born without fingers. Through navigating learning how to write without hands in school, Desmond discovered a love for art and animation. It was this love for animation and animated storytelling that inspired Blair to expand his artistic talents. Blair’s tenacity, determination, and drive empowered him to graduate from high school at the age of 16. Blair later earned his undergraduate degree from University of Texas at Dallas where he honed his traditional abilities and transferred them to digital media focusing on animation and computer graphics. Blair later returned to UTD where he received his MFA in Art and Technology with a concentration on the development of computer graphics and the study/analysis of emerging media trends. He now uses his art to encourage others, promote limb difference awareness and raise money for charities in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Desmond hopes to one day use his art to launch a scholarship fund that will assist graduating seniors born with limb differences in the pursuit of their academic goals. (Courtesy of the Artist)

See Desmond's interview with CBS 11 here.

Julia Abdara, born in West Africa, raised in Brooklyn, Abara paints timeless images of  her childhood, daily life, nostalgia and moments past and present that  reimagine the ingrained stereotypical narratives of Black culture. In an  effort to paint her subjects in ways perhaps not often seen in the  media, there is an incredibly relatable and heartfelt sentiment that is  felt in each of her compositions. The simplicity of her work is  overshadowed by the delicacy of each stroke, the starkness of the hue in  each background her figures encompass and the openness of her content.