Birdcage Team
Hello,
My name is Geniece and I started Birdcage Ink in 2017. At first it was just me and an Instagram. A girl on a mission to spread her love for literature with the community. I realized very quickly that my dream was not only my own but rather one that was shared with others. So much love for reading in our community, so much push for me to continue on this mission. I wanted to share different ideas of reading, different genres from children's literature to philosophy books. I truly believe there is a book for everyone. Each member of the team shares my passion and has their own niche of reading. I feel it is important for everyone to open to new possibilities in reading and share their passion for reading. We each have enjoy different genres and add our own little flair to what we contribute. Whats your favorite book? Share it with us introduce us into your world of reading.
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-Geniece
Meet Jonni
Specializes in Children's Literature, Mythology, and Fiction. Be on the look out for her children's book, beautifully written poetry. Let's not forget her awesome photos.
I think art, all art, has always served as a tool for me to not only cope with a world it didn't fit into...but helped me create my own. I am Jonni Rae. I moved to downtown bakersfield at age fifteen. I walked home from school using back alleyways and would sneak into concerts at Jerry's Pizza. I'd like to find a small tree and bench and read. I poured myself into new worlds, live different views. I loved downtown. A place where everyone was different and unique...different like me, different like no other. I could go and paint or see a concert or read or watch a play. They were so many people just walking the streets with dreams. These were my people. This was my place. These were my tools. And somewhere in there...I'd find me.
I joined Birdcage in 2018. I was enchanted by the idea of bringing art, words and voices to the community that had given me so much. To a place that helped me not just find my place, but create my place. I want to share the tools of self expression and understanding through both visual and literary art forms with as many people as I can reach. I want the world to know of painters like Félix Mas and writers like BJ Novak and so very many more. Birdcage is that movement. The movement that makes you feel good, feel heard, found. No. Created. Celebrated.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Meet Abe
Abe handles most of the illustration and graphic design for us. Dig our author illustrations? Abe handles local art commissions as well and has been featured at Local Art Shows in Bakersfield. Check him out on IG @Voodoochild_1970
I'm Abe and I was born on the Eastside ghetto of Bakersfield, CA.
I decided to work with birdcage because it is a form of expression in a community that is only beginning its expressive expansion; birdcage is that push that our community, along with myself, needed in order to manifest love, laughter, and art.
What originally sparked my artistic side simply comes down to life itself. I'm not much of a reader but I have grown fond of Bukowski in more recent times.
I don't have favorite books so I want to go with top 6 artists: Dali, Picasso, Van Gogh, Frida kahlo, Diego Rivera, Andy Warhol
Meet Daniel
My name is Daniel Carreras the greatest of all time. I grew up living in downtown Bakersfield. The goal here with Birdcage is vital to me because it's important to encourage reading among all ages while supporting the community as well as working alongside local business. Comics are what got me into reading. I used to spend summers with my dad in a tiny city where the only things to do were go to Rite Aid or the local comic shop. The first thing I bought was a Punisher vs Daredevil story and that was it for me! Watchmen is the book that changed my life and opened my eyes to what an art form comics truly were. I read it before a party we were throwing and I was supposed to be helping set up, but all I could do was sit silently and think about what I just read. Safe to say I enjoy reading comics and graphic novels most so its crucial for me to also highlight and promote my favorite storytelling medium and ensure they are as highly regarded as other literature.
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My top books: Takin' Over By Imposing
The Positive by Brandon McCartney,
Essex County by Jeff Lemire,
Marvels by Kurt Busiek & Alex Ross,
Spider-Man: Blue by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale,
Watchmen by Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Daniel handles our Graphic Novel & Comic reviews. He is an avid reader of Graphic Novels and is always up for a good wrestling discussion. Be on the look out for his next review.
ART BY ABE @VOODOOCHILD_1970