Blackbird Café in Valparaiso was host to an art exhibit, “Essence of a Byrd,” Saturday afternoon. The feature artist was Jessica Corral who is a local artist and art teacher at Flint Lake Elementary in Valpo. A number of her pieces were on display at Blackbird and all featured the same theme, flight. This these has a personal meaning for Corral, whose artwork reflects her life.
Corral created a saying that she likes to teach her students and go by in her life. She states, “We are born into creation to create.”
She loves to express her life through artwork and feels that is a good way for others to express their life. Corral has put together multiple pieces for the exhibit and has worked vigorously for the past few weeks. This is her first exhibit and she was excited to display her pieces.
“Over the past two weeks, I put together the 20+ pieces. It has been a rough two weeks, but it’s great that they’re all displayed now,” said Corral.
She has been connected to Blackbird in the past and helps them coordinate the “Spring into the Arts,” which is an art festival in Valpo.
“I have known Daniel Cook (Owner of Blackbird Café) for a long time, and he let us display artworks in Blackbird for ‘Spring into the Arts,’ and one day he approached me and asked if I wanted to display my works in an exhibit,” said Corral.
She has a personal connection to all the pieces displayed.
“I have a personal Instagram called ‘wordsofbyrd’ because I am a writer and artist, and on there I like to visually transform the idea of being a bird and taking flight. I have gone through personal changes the past 2-3 years that have morphed me into this free spirit. I’m trying to capture the essence of that through my art,” said Corral.
Corral has been working on a novel that will reflect and go along with the art exhibit. The novel will try to reflect and coincide with the exhibit being portrayed.
Blackbird Café is going to be a part of Corral’s future and she wants to use them to help portray her message.
“I want to add some takeaway quotes to Blackbird for anyone that needs them for an uplift. I have found that no matter the darkness or storm you go through personally, that there is a way of healing and coming out through it even better than you were before. I want people to look at all my artwork here and feel a sense of inspiration through it and apply that to themselves to uplift them,” said Corral
Corral’s artwork will be on display in Blackbird Café until August 3rdand is for sale for the public. You can visit her on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest @diyartstudios. You can also check out the host of the exhibit on their website https://www.blackbirdcafevalparaiso.com. Be sure to visit for some great drinks and eats!
