“When you enter my creative world, I want you to FEEL something. A tug at the old heart strings. Perhaps a distant memory you stored away. A love lost, or a love found, A touch of the spirit. SOMETHING. While on your visit please take notice of the elongated extremities which are exaggerated and point to a special emphasis of the hands, denoting the importance and power of the human touch. Arms that extend and envelope to welcome you in, a friendly reminder that you are loved. Perhaps the texture of the pieces pulled you in and caught your eye? Through the piecing of collage, I create texture and pattern.” About the Artist South Carolina native April W Harrison creates rich mixed-media paintings that reveal her unshakeable belief in the strength of faith, family and friendship. Her adept use of color and collaging with specialty paper and magazine prints, as well as her audacious re-purposing of found objects in her work, add a physical reality and a quilt-like quality that roots it firmly within an African American artistic tradition.A self-taught artist who has been professionally involved in art for 20 plus years, and an award-winning artist and illustrator, Harrison has achieved a great measure of success and popular acclaim. Her work has been featured at numerous venues nationwide, including the Morris Museum of Art, GA; Hampton University Museum, VA; Spartanburg County Museum of Art, SC; Greenville County Museum of Art, SC; and the Romare Bearden Juried Invitational by David C. Driskell at Charlotte’s Mint Museum. Public Collections Atlanta Housing Authority, GA | Vanderbilt University, VA | Erskine University Museum Collection, SC | Sarah Collins Elementary, SC | St Anthony of Padua Catholic School, SC Publishers Random House Kids, NY Little Brown Books, NYBloomsbury Children’s Books, NYJust Us Books- Crown Books for Young Readers, NY Private Collections Honorable Ruth Simmons | Honorable Andrew Young | Whoopi Goldberg | S. Epatha Merkerson | Jesse L. Martin | Tonya Pinkins | Shaun Robinson Danielle Brooks Samuel Jackson Broadcast MediaBlack Mafia Family- Atlanta This Is Us/ABC | Being Mary Jane-BET | Greenleaf – OWN | Star-FOX | KC Undercover-Disney | Addicted- Code Black Films | First Sunday-Cube Vision Publication Media Charleston Scene-Post & Courier-2019 | Charleston City Paper-2019 | at Home Magazine,2019 | Greenville Journal,2019 | East of the River, DC, 2011 | Unveiled Purpose,2011 | Upscale Magazine,6/2009 | Essence Magazine, 7/2009 | The Atlanta Journal CHILDREN’S PICTURE BOOK ILLUSTRATOR FROM 2016- PRESENT I have dreamed of becoming an illustrator since I began my artistic journey in 1997. I thought it would be wonderful to see faces like mine on everything from books to bedspreads and everything in between! But no matter how many times I submitted my portfolio to the different publishing houses, I was turned down. I decided that God had other plans for me so I placed “illustration” on the back burner and concentrated on my fine art career. In 2016, I was approached by Schwartz and Wade, an imprint of Penguin Random House about possibly illustrating a children’s picture book. I jumped at the opportunity! But wait a minute, there was a catch! In order to be selected for this opportunity, I had to do one fully executed page of the book so that they could determine if it was the right “feel” Let’s just say the rest is history, I got the job and my first illustrated book, “What Is Given From The Heart” by Patricia McKissack went on to win the 2020 Coretta Scott King-John Steptoe Award for New Illustrator . I have learned from this experience that “delay” does not mean “denial” it’s all about God’s timing for your life and I feel that He saved the best for last.