Gabriella D’Abreau is a fine artist and illustrator based in Trinidad. Her style is dualistic in that it can be either intricate and realistic or expressive and non-representational. Gabriella enjoys both academic and experimental techniques and the balance they can lend to her work. She works with a variety of media but uses mostly acrylic paint, watercolor paint, pen and inks. Gabriella sees her artwork as in a constant state of becoming. As such, she encourages her audience to actively participate in the viewing of her work. The artist does not finish a work of art; rather, the viewer becomes an

  David Merrique is an Illustrator based in New York. His illustrations are drawings colored digitally. He incorporates strong use of hand-drawn line, color and flat shapes to describe form, light and shadow.

THE PORTRAITS THAT WERE INSPIRED BY DREAMS & NIGHTMARES INTERVIEW & STORY BY ASSOCIATE EDITOR: KEISHA BLENMAN “The idea of the human mind and how we work on a basic level fascinates me. Human instincts and our natural desires and emotions have filled my head with questions for a long period of my life” - At what age did you start painting? I have been doing art for as long as I can remember but serious oil painting did not become my life until my last year of college.   - What school did you attend for Art? I attended Parsons School of Design for illustration. I