The Journey

My first love was Art. From as far back as I can remember, Art was very much a part of my life. My sketchbook and coloured pencils were my constant companions. For me, drawing was innate. I drew day and night; night and day. Then at around age seven, I cheated on Art and fell head over heels in love with Literature. Books became everything to me. I would read any and everything I could get my hands on. By the time I turned eight, I was penning my own stories and I aspired to become a published author, world-famous artist and designer one day. To date, I have published three novels and a colouring book for adults.

In 2020, after a long separation from Art during which I focused all my energies on growing my relationship with Literature, I made the conscious decision to rekindle my romance with my old flame. At this time, I realized that I had never actually PAINTED ON CANVAS (Yep! Unbelievable! I know!) and so, I asked myself, "How can you claim to be an artist if you've never created a work of art on canvas?" Right then and there, I pledged to teach myself to work with those time-honoured mediums and thus began the journey to Art By Mandi Di Empress.

While creating my art, I was inspired to start a merch line. "Why not?" Every other artist - up-and-coming and established - was doing it. And if I did this it would cause my lifelong dream of becoming a designer to manifest. With the fire burning deep inside my heart, I decided to dive headfirst into this new undertaking in April 2022. The vision is to see my art on custom apparel and other merchandise that my customers will be able to see themselves reflected in. After all, "representation matters." My mission is to create products that people who look like me, and trod the paths that I have trodded can relate to. Hence, two separate lines have been created: Rep Yuh Kulcha, which is all about expression of individual pride in who we are and embracing pop culture that is unique to us and Island Patriot, which provides the opportunity for one to loudly proclaim to the world how proud he/she is of their origins.

My name is Mandi Di Empress and I proudly rep the beautiful Caribbean country that is Jamaica. Welcome to Books & Art By Mandi Di Empress. My prayer is that you will take a little time to get to know me through my creations and I hope that you will be so moved to take home something that speaks to you today.

One love!