Spice up your Instagram feed with these eight influential DC artists offering a daily dose of aesthetic inspiration and inside scoop on the local creative community.
Alexandra Squire @alexandrasquireart
Complexity meets simplicity with Alexandra Squire’s pieces of varying hues and dimensions. Starting from an original coat of paint on wood or canvas, Squire then adds resin to the wood works in a series of blended colorful layers to make her signature geometric pieces. Watch her Instagram highlight dedicated to her smaller resin pieces titled “Minis” for a step-by-step look into her creative process.
Christine Cover’s work as a commission for Sweetgreen.
Christine Cover @christine.cover
Abstract artist Christine Cover experiments with acrylic, oil stick and pastel on canvas to create designs that wow with representative shapes and colors. She’s even managed to catch the eyes of brands like Sweetgreen. On Cover’s Insta feed, look for her new series releasing this December called Parlour, just in time for the gift-giving season.
Claire Sharp @clairesharpart
Local artist Claire Sharp creates intricate mixed-media and acrylic pieces on wood panels and canvas. For a glimpse of her works, visit the creative’s Instagram, where abstract realist’s interpretations of the human figure embody her passion for our emotional connection to the world. With bold layers of color, collage and different mark making techniques, Sharp knows a creation is complete when the connection to herself and the subjects’ stories work together to create balance and energy through each piece.
Artist JD Deardourff.
J.D. Deardourff @jddeardourff
This visual artist has collaborated with brands like Apple, Burton, Samuel Adams and Cava—all featured on his colorful Instagram feed. For Deardourff, comic books serve as the inspiration for high-energy screen prints, murals, paintings and collages that strive to create an optimistic yet occasionally apocalyptic world.
Jordann Wine, “Spiral 1”
Jordann Wine @jordannwine
Integrating geometric shapes and a sizable amount of glitter, Jordann Wine creates pieces that draw on mathematical concepts like the notion of space and time while finding order within chaos. Falling, fading, floating and unfolding patterns of triangles present viewers with a contemplation of the infinite, offering a mesmerizing calm. Explore Wine’s captivating designs in murals across the DMV and her Instagram, where she keeps followers updated on each project.
Kelly Towles, “Untitled”
Kelly Towles @kellytowles
On a morning walk around the city, keep an eye out for murals by Kelly Towles. Director of the DC Walls Festival, the artist, designer and muralist uses his creativity to make the city a more lively and creative space with the use of bright colors and one-of-a-kind anime figures. Towles’ Instagram account is a visual feature of his work, in addition to the designs he creates for his clothing brand, Holy Bones.
Maggie O’Neill, “March on Washington”
Maggie O’Neill @maggieoartist
Maggie O’Neill’s vibrant work, which once graced the cover of this magazine, inspires connections with individuals from all over the globe. O’Neill’s art empowers feminist messages that have gained attention from key figures from television to politics. Her Instagram posts are memorable. Case in point: One post shows the artist holding one of her special portraits while standing next to former President Barack Obama. The power of art, indeed.
Maria-Victoria Checa, “Blue Lily River”
Maria-Victoria Checa @mvcheca.art
French artist Maria-Victoria Checa creates sophisticated abstract and impressionist art pieces. Peruse this creator’s interpretations of the natural world on her Instagram, and become hooked on the vibrant trees, lily pads and florals. Each piece not only leaves one in awe, but attempts to evoke freedom, liveliness and transformation in its viewers.
A mural by Rose Jaffe
Rose Jaffe @rose_inks
This DC-born artist has tried her hand at a number of artistic works, including mural painting, ceramics, printmaking and digital illustration. See Jaffe’s works up close at murals across the city, or explore her creations on Instagram—a selection of Reels showcases her work while also giving a sneak peek into the artistic process. Each colorful, abstract creation touches on themes like activism, spiritualism, natural healing and social justice with the hope of sparking conversation and social change.
Wayson R. Jones @waysonjones
Wayson Jones integrates form, color and surface through the use of saturated hues and thickly applied texture to create vivid and dense works. Venture to the artist’s Instagram account, where he depicts his use of pumice gel, acrylic, pumice gel and powdered graphite to express the deeper meanings of his pieces.
Photography by: COURTESY OF THE ARTISTS
