For those who have seen Bridgeport High School junior Maizze Christie perform on stage, it’s clear that she is a creative genius.  

 

Whether singing, acting, dancing, her art is noticeable and impressive. What many might not know, however, is that her talent goes beyond the stage. After hearing about a Huntington artist’s mission a few months ago, Christie decided to put her own twist on it, using a very modern tool: Her iPad.

 

When the final 100 days of 2020 began on Sept. 23, Huntington artist Sassa Wilkes decided to challenge herself to paint and learn about women who inspire her. Each day, she created a portrait of an inspirational woman and attached the impact each has made on her personally and on the world as a whole. Her series can be found at www.iamsassa.com, with prints available and an upcoming showing of all 100 portraits.

 

After learning about Sassa’s challenge, Maizze began to explore which women inspired her as well. Using her iPad, she began her own series of portraits, choosing women who are in the public eye with a lot of pressure but who do things on their own terms.  

 

“I began with Kamala Harris and then RGB and AOC,” said Christie. “Then I branched out to include some YouTube influencers who have inspired me.”

 

Although she has done art since she was young, digital art was new to her. She decided to challenge herself to create the portraits digitally to expand her artistic repertoire.

 

“After I saw Sassa’s amazing creations representing so many strong and influential women, it made me want to do something creative as well,” she said. “The style is different, but I hope my work also inspires others to learn more about these women and their stories and to maybe challenge themselves to put their own twist on creating similar pieces of empowerment.”

 

As Christie created her pieces, she learned a lot about the women behind them. She is hoping to create more and set up a virtual gallery going into more depth on each woman and how they inspired her.

 

Editor's Note: Submitted photos of Christie and five of her digital portraits.