Celebrate this Black History Month (and every month!) by supporting these amazingly creative black, female artists and makers. You’ll be sure to find unique, handcrafted pieces from home decor to bath and beauty products.
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Sandra and Jennifer Mapp, Kindred Essence
Kindred Essence is a small, black-owned female brand of scented, handmade candles as well as natural bath and beauty products. Founded by sisters Jennifer and Sandra Mapp, the company began in their kitchen as a fun and creative way to make gifts for family and friends. Their candles were so popular they soon started Kindred Essence as an online business. Since then, the sisters have been bringing their sophisticated taste to handcrafted candles. They’ve even expanded to handmade soaps, body butters and scrubs.
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Melissa Koby, M. Koby Art
Melissa Koby is a Jamaican born, Miami-based black female artist. During COVID lock downs, she turned to illustrating her feelings and perspectives as a means of processing what was happening in the world. She connected with people through her artwork on social media and her illustrations soon went viral. Using a combination of watercolor painting and digital illustration, there is a common theme found in Melissa’s work—women pressing on and supporting one another through times of sorrow and moments of triumph. Her inspiring illustrations remind us that beauty and courage can be found even in challenging times.
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Tara Warrick, Tara Jayne Designs
Tara Warrick is the Philadelphia maker behind the brand Tara Jayne Designs, which features a collection of hand poured and painted concrete items to decorate your space. Featuring items such as coasters and trays, each piece is meticulously crafted in hand-poured concrete. With their geometric lines and bold color-blocked patterns, Tara’s concrete designs are the perfect home decor accessory for those who love a minimalist aesthetic and boho vibes.
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Casey Alberti, Sweet Home Alberti
Sweet Home Alberti provides hanging planters and twisting tapestries that are designed to brighten our lives and living spaces. Washington state-based artist Casey Alberti started making macramé in 2020 as a way to help her cope with a pregnancy loss and depression. With each knot and finished project, a tiny part of her depression healed. She soon opened her shop and her mental health did nothing but improve. Sweet Home Alberti’s hand-knotted decor is made from recycled cotton. The brightly colored hangings provide a vibrant twist to any living space.
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Val & Ray Talbert, Tal & Bert
Featured in media outlets such as CNN, Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, NY Times, and Buzzfeed, Val and Ray Talbert are the founders of Tal & Bert, a home decor shop offering original raw mineral geode planters. With a melding of raw natural minerals and crystals combined with concrete, this Pittsburgh-based husband and wife duo create home decor accessories that showcase their love of outdoors, recreational mining, and art. With humble beginnings, they started their company in February 2020 in their kitchen. Soon after, their business quickly grew into a larger studio with two brick & mortar stores.
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Jemma Morris, Lou Lou Art Studio
With a passion for creating art to highlight diverse families, Jemma Morris launched her etsy shop, Lou Lou Art Studio in 2017. Her work is a mixture of original and printable art in a variety of prices, styles and subjects, such as abstract watercolors, illustrated landscapes, and unique portraits. Her portraiture work consists of stylized silhouettes of families that feature a broad range of skin tones. “As an artist of color, representation is everything to me,” says Jemma. Her artistic style is inspired by the experiences of her childhood — growing up bi-racial, not seeing her reality reflected in the culture around her.
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Natalie Blamire, Natalie Gaynor Designs
Natalie Blamire’s love of textiles and embroidery started at a young age. At age seven her grandmother taught her how to knit and she grew up watching her mom sewing and making their clothes at the kitchen table. Her talent for embroidery led to the creation of Natalie Gaynor Designs. With lush florals and looping lettering, this talented UK-based black female textile artist creates gallery-worthy, custom hoops stitched with heartfelt messages as well as wearable art and beautiful gifts for all occasions.
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Kim is the owner and publisher of Sass Magazine, as well as the owner of Sass Studios, a boutique graphic design studio in Frederick, MD. When not in the office, Kim can be found doing some of her favorite hobbies—reading a book, dancing, traveling, or playing with her rescued pitbull.
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