Welcome to my tiny digital Temple!

So glad to join you on Steemit! My name is Michel Kabba, I’m 31 years old and have been working as an in-home care provider for a charming, artistic, and inspiring elder here in my hometown of Sebastopol, CA.

I have a whole range of interests, but on Steemit I’d like to focus on just a few:

• Art
• Photography
• Design
• Travel

I am by no means a professional artist, or photographer, in fact I haven’t earned a dime doing what I love to do, but I’m determined to keep going. One day I hope to start my own design company. Designing what? I have no idea. It could be interior design, architectural design, website design, we’ll see. I just love the process of discovering and further uncovering a working order of shape and color… It’s the only work I can imagine my self still doing until my final day here on this lovely blue pearl. For now the work is still a little sloppy, but mostly self-taught, so refinement will come in time.

The theme of my artwork varies. I do figure drawing, sketches, and random, free-flowing, abstract drafting adventures. My favorite work to do are abstract geometric impressions, like Suntower below. I have been in love with architecture for at least a decade now, but couldn’t cut it as a student of architecture at my local community college.

I thought it was the buildings that I loved, but over the years it became apparent that I was drawn to the impressions and embedded themes in the design of the buildings. Circles, triangles, and squares coming together to form the body of a piece of art.

These basic geometric elements serve symbolic and utilitarian functions on there own (a square box for efficient packing and storing, a triangular roof for shedding water, and a circular wheel for easy motion). When they are patiently brought together, though, the impression more along the lines of a word or brief statement; a meme or personality of its own, independent of its creator. They are not “mine”, I simply draw them out of a sea of geometric potential. They follow their own rules, and the only way for me to reveal them is to honor those rules.

An abstract geometric impression:

“Suntower”

I know it's crude, but it's my first one from three years ago. I have been attempting to clean it up and refine the technique since then.

Like my artwork, the theme of my photography varies. I like to shoot animals, especially birds, flowers, and architecture. What I hunt for, or hope to discover, are the same basic elements of my drawings: patterns, repetitions, color harmony, balance, and geometry. For this I must travel… to a nearby park or the other side of the world. It’s a thrilling and inspires me to do more drawing. I must and I will continue to travel, to feel the pulse of the world, and articulate it through drawing.

Photo samples

"Poppies and Brick"

"Waterfalling"

"Ice Plant"

"Water meets Sand"

Here's my toolkit, as of June 15th, 2017:

Quick Bio:

My little sister and I were born in LA and lived there until I was five and she was three. We moved up here to Sebastopol after our parents split up and later divorced. Today we all continue to share a healthy relationship with one another. My mother is originally from Oregon, and her heritage goes all the way back to the first colonists who arrived on the east coast in the 17th C. (Mayflower, maybe? probably not… but still!). My father is from Sierra Leone, west Africa. However, his mother’s family name is ‘Savage’, and are descended from freed slaves who returned to Africa over a century ago. So, perhaps my mother’s great-great grandparents and those of my father knew each other!! ;)

I will happily share travel and photography tips, as well the drafting process from start to finish. For now, though, it’s nice to meet you all! I’m looking forward to finding other (Steemers? Steemians?) with similar interests. I hope you find my content valuable and I am always open to tips and new suggestions to improve my work.

-Kabbam

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michel_kabba/