Today we’d like to introduce you to Crystal Manning.
Hi Crystal, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I started drawing very young. My mother Clare Manning was part of a bowling league and I would go with her to practice some times. She would sit me down at a table near to her lane and she would draw several circles on a paper for me to make faces and people. That’s it. That’s when my passion for art and creativity burst into life. I remember years later being upset that I couldn’t draw those perfect little circles like my mom seemed to do, and my mom explained to me “baby they don’t have to be perfect, all people are not made the same, there are all kinds of different shaped faces and bodies and everyone is different.” And that is how my love of capturing “imperfections” in all their glory was birthed. From then on I remember highlighting scars and disfigurements in all of my drawings. I realized there was beauty in not being perfect. I was always drawn to the opposite of what society’s standard of beauty was. Which brings me to now. I pride myself on capturing beauty in it’s natural and most vulnerable state. Embracing what isn’t common and highlighting what isn’t considered the standard.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Making it to the point that I am at now (which doesn’t seem as though I have gotten very far in these 37 years) has been extremally difficult. My biggest struggle and deepest regret is not believing in myself and my own voice. Up until college I created and drew on almost a daily bases. But life and trying to experience being an adult too soon silenced my desire to be a creative. After I started having children art and creativity took a back seat (well it was really more so locked in the trunk at that point). Failed relationships literally left me separated from the art I had created and loved thus far, and losing that part of me and having to start over was something I just couldn’t deal with again. Then the next failed relationship happened and again I found myself having lost years more of my work. I refused to go through the pain of building up my creative portfolio again. Then I spent years of comparing my art to other amazing artist and telling myself I wasn’t good enough and that I wasn’t a real artist. I easily found myself no longer identifying myself as an artist or a creator at all. It has been a very bumpy road indeed.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a visual artist. I have done pencil sketches for years and about a year ago I started doing acrylic paintings and I have recently started expanding into the digital art realm. I would say my specialty no matter the medium is the natural female form. I like to capture the body of curvy and full figured women in a natural state (nude). I am most proud of my style of capturing the naked female form in a very beautify but not sexual way. Women are literally objectified daily due to their looks and their bodies. We deal with body shaming and self esteem issues almost our entire lives due to this fact. Still, being nude as a woman is freeing and spiritual. Dancing about without a care or without shame is like casting chains from out wrists and ankles. This is what sets me apart. I capture the essence of being an imperfect, empowered, free woman in a world that places an unhealthy and unrealistic expectation of perfection on a pedestal.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Born and raised in Alief, Tx. Graduated from Alief Hastings High School. Self Identified Black Artist. I am new to the art community and I have my amazing partner Vance to thank for this. He has always been my biggest fan and has always created a safe space for me to be me. He has spent years being consistent with exposing me to this world of art that I have always loved so dearly. He has introduced me to some of the most amazing artists in Houston and I just want to take the chance to thank him for patiently leading me back to something that is so dear to me. Art truly is life!
Pricing:
- Digital Art Offerings: Custom Character Designs $100+
- Digital Art Offerings: Custom Family Portraits $250+
- Offering Readers 22% off with code VoyageHouston22
- Hand Painted Custom Pieces $125+
- Digital Art Offerings: Custom NFT Designs &350+
- I also offer services such as logo design and Book Illustrations.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Krista Davenport (Kris D. Photography)
