Welcome 

You’ve just stepped into the art compound of the Blue Okapi Magazine,  a digital sanctuary built to honor the soul of the working artist. Blue Okapi is not just a magazine, it’s a creative refuge. It’s a place where you can imagine the smell of oil paint hanging in the air, broken clay and bright pixels of the golden hour are a constant in the same shared space. It’s a place  where your story, your input and your process breaks through.

Our inaugural issue is called “First Light”  a celebration of beginnings. The spark that started it all. We’ve invited artists across genres to crack open their sketchbooks, open up their studio doors, and let us get a peek.

You’ll meet Artists from all walks of life and hear their origin stories, see inside real studios, and view curated works that pulse with potential and promise.

This space was born out of a deep need for connection and collaboration. But mostly Blue Okapi Magazine is a showcase for artists to not only be seen but deeply felt.  

Be inspired. Absorb. Feel.
And then go make something.

Thanks for joining us, with fire and grace.

Carmen Efferson Sowell, Founder & Editor, Blue Okapi Magazine

A little bit about me…

Curator, Art historian and Artist.

I am a multi disciplined Artist, but for the moment I claim my focused genre as “ASSEMBLAGE” in the tradition of Bettye Saar, Allison Saar, John Outterbridge, Noah Purifoy, Charles Dickson, Charles Tatum, Schwitter, Picasso, Juan Gris & Le Corbusier.

The Watts Towers  & Watts Towers Art Center

As a child, my family lived 3 blocks from the Watts Towers I attended Markham Jr. High School, as we walked those tracks (train tracks) to and from school we saw the Towers, we were engaged with the Towers, my first art teachers were John Outterbridge and Noah Puriofy. I made a ceramic cup.