

Blue Ivy had the Internet going nuts recently when a video of her bidding on artwork went viral, but another star emerged from that moment: painter Tiffanie Anderson, also known as The Pretty Artist.
It was her handiwork---an acrylic, tempered-glass painting of legendary actor Sidney Poitier---that ended up in the hands of Tyler Perry after his $20,000 bid trumped the young heir to the Carter empire.
Talk about boss moves.
Getting a spot in the auction, which raised funds for WACO, a youth organization founded by Tina Knowles and husband Richard Lawson, was a true testament to the power of cultivating a great network, being the best at what you do, and always being ready.
So how did she do it?
It all started with Anderson being asked to create a jacket for Trell Thomas, an entertainment PR, talent relations, and marketing professional. Anderson had previously worked with Thomas for VH1's Save the Music, and they'd kept in touch.
"A couple days before the auction, he said, 'Hey, do you have any art for the auction?' I just happened to have that Sidney Poitier piece at my studio. It worked out that it was perfect for that event," Anderson recalls during our chat. "I knew it would stand out and be nice there, but I didn't know it was going to blow up like that. It's incredible because you run a risk when your art is in an auction and it's public like that. If it doesn't do well, it could be a bad look. Having the Queen's baby bid on it---for me, it was exciting, very, very exciting. Beyonce, Jay Z, Tina Knowles---that's royalty to me. Barack and Michelle are the only people above them in my mind."
"Having the Queen's baby bid on it - for me, it was exciting. Beyonce, Jay Z, Tina Knowles - that's royalty to me."
Like any glow-up, Anderson's journey has not been without major challenges. In her late teens, she joined the pop group Girlicious (who was once mentored and co-signed by the Pussycat Dolls), but after a brief stint as a budding pop star, she decided to risk it all to redirect her life and find peace.
"I felt like the music industry didn't really make me happy because it was 10% singing and 90% trying to avoid being screwed over. I was very stressed out," she told me. "[I just wanted to] do something that would get my mind off work and take my concentration for a few hours.' I went to the store, bought some paints, and painted Barack Obama. I was like, 'Hey, I'm not half bad.' [Laughs] A year later, I sold a piece, quit the group and began pursuing painting full time."
She sold her first piece for $300 to a producer who wanted a portrait of his daughter. "I asked, 'You're gonna give me $300 just for painting your daughter?" He's like, 'Yeah.' And so I did it. Just the fairness of it---I did a service, and I got paid fair money for what I did---that was addictive. I knew I had to keep at it. At first it was hard. I had to be off the grid: no money, nowhere to live, my car was getting repossessed. It was hard for a long time before I started to build success and take care of myself."
The struggle continued, but when her motivation was on E, she counted on faith and a strong work ethic. "There's a lot of mental maintenance that goes into this---the belief that you can make it. A canvas could be maybe $50, and I'm hungry. But I thought, 'If I buy this canvas for $50, I could turn that into $500 when I sell it.' I would have to choose. There were a lot of times I'd spend my time reinvesting in my dream."
"It was hard for a long time before I started to build success and take care of myself."
One look at her work, and you see a God-given gift manifested. Her inclination and natural talent is rooted in her DNA: Her grandmother was an abstract painter and her grandfather created realism pieces. "I think I ended up with a mix between the two. The skill came from my genes for sure. Art school is expensive. I definitely had to figure it out on my own. And as with anything, if you do it every day, you get better. I'm definitely better now than when I first started."
Anderson draws inspiration from online research and everyday life, and she seeks to paint pieces that stand out from what's already available or popular. She's also built a solid online brand, particularly on Instagram, where she has more than 86,000 followers. Her art has caught the eye of many celebrities including Drake, Russell Simmons, Jason Derulo, Andre Berto, Ray J, and Floyd Mayweather, with the latter being a repeat purchaser who has spent more than a pretty penny for her massive masterpieces. Now, she's able to get tens of thousands of dollars for her work and she can pick and choose what projects she takes on.
Social media buzz may be golden, but for Anderson, verbal referrals are vital to her success. "I have a presence online, true, but the majority of the way I survive on art alone is through word of mouth, especially with celebrities. I don't have a side job. Once I sold my first painting, I never had a regular job again. For me, the key is that I don't really have a choice. I have to continue to paint. I have to make it bigger and more unique and better to survive. If I don't paint, I don't eat."
"I have to continue to paint. I have to make it bigger and more unique and better to survive. If I don't paint, I don't eat."
Anderson urges creatives to give their passions their all and to be prepared for their time to shine. "This is how I keep my network and keep working with the same celebrities over and over again: I'm not annoying, and my work is good," she says. "You don't have to kiss someone's ass or try too hard to be friends. If you work hard and your work is good, it'll make people stick to you. Every time something comes up, you're the first person to come to mind."
Another DJ Khaled-level key to sustaining success and securing the bag: Ignore the doubters and naysayers and hold tight to faith. "Everyone's gonna tell you that it's a bad idea, and that you need to get a 'real' job. So many people told me not to do it. Even now, with the success I've seen in the past three years, there are still days I wake up and say, 'Is this gonna work out?' I have to listen to my Joel Osteen and get back into the faith of all this."
With a growing fan and patron base, Anderson hopes to continue letting her work and growth Inspire other black and brown girls to get into art, and she eventually wants to launch a public studio of her own. "I would like to contribute to inspiring young people of color to let them know that they can do it, too," she says. "They don't have to follow the path the [typical] American dream provides to them. I want to let them know you can be successful. Just look at what I did. I definitely want to continue to do work with Tina Knowles and keep going forward. I want to have my own gallery. For now, it's just all these amazing opportunities that are coming in, and I just want to be prepared for them when they come."
I can dig that. After talking with Anderson, I'm super hyped to step my game up--- that way, when she reaches Basquiat status, I can be on the radar to get the coveted exclusive yet again.
For more Tiffanie, follow her and her work on Instagram.
- Tiffanie Anderson (@theprettyartist) • Instagram photos and videos ›
- Tiffanie Anderson | The Pretty Artist ›
- Celebrity Painter Tiffanie Anderson Interview | Essence.com ›
- Exclusive: We Chat With 'The Pretty Artist' Tiffanie Anderson - The ... ›
- LA artist Tiffanie Anderson on hand during ArtWalk at Lancaster ... ›
- Tiffanie Anderson – Vikipedija ›
Devale Ellis On Being A Provider, Marriage Growth & Redefining Fatherhood
In this candid episode of the xoMAN podcast, host Kiara Walker talked with Devale Ellis, actor, social media personality, and star of Zatima, about modern masculinity, learning to be a better husband, emotional presence in marriage, fatherhood for Black men, and leading by example.
“I Wasn’t Present Emotionally”: Devale Ellis on Marriage Growth
Devale Ellis On Learning He Was a ‘Bad Husband’
Ellis grew up believing that a man should prioritize providing for his family. “I know this may come off as misogynistic, but I feel like it’s my responsibility as a man to pay for everything,” he said, emphasizing the wise guidance passed down by his father. However, five years into his marriage to long-time partner Khadeen Ellis, he realized provision wasn’t just financial.
“I was a bad husband because I wasn’t present emotionally… I wasn’t concerned about what she needed outside of the resources.”
Once he shifted his mindset, his marriage improved. “In me trying to be of service to her, I learned that me being of service created a woman who is now willing to be of service to me.”
On Redefining Masculinity and Fatherhood
For Ellis, “being a man is about being consistent.” As a father of four, he sees parenthood as a chance to reshape the future.
“Children give you another chance at life. I have four different opportunities right now to do my life all over again.”
He also works to uplift young Black men, reinforcing their worth in a world that often undermines them. His values extend to his career—Ellis refuses to play roles that involve domestic violence or sexual assault.
On Marriage, Family Planning, and Writing His Story
After his wife’s postpartum preeclampsia, Ellis chose a vasectomy over her taking hormonal birth control, further proving his commitment to their partnership. He and Khadeen share their journey in We Over Me, and his next book, Raising Kings: How Fatherhood Saved Me From Myself, is on the way.
Through honesty and growth, Devale Ellis challenges traditional ideas of masculinity, making his story one that resonates deeply with millennial women.
For the xoMAN podcast, host Kiara Walker peels back the layers of masculinity with candid conversations that challenge stereotypes and celebrate vulnerability. Real men. Real stories. Real talk.
Want more real talk from xoMAN? Catch the full audio episodes every Tuesday on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and don’t miss the full video drops every Wednesday on YouTube. Hit follow, subscribe, and stay tapped in.
Featured image by YouTube/xoNecole
My personal relationship with birth control pills is a bit of an odd one. Back when I first became sexually active (I started having sex with my first boyfriend a couple of months shy of 19), I took them for a couple of months, didn’t like how they made me feel, and so I quit using them altogether (and got pregnant almost immediately after). The rest of my adult life, I stayed off of the pill and pretty much only used condoms (and even then, not consistently — SMDH).
And yet here I am, now, all these years later, back on them again: surprise, surprise.
These days, it's for a completely different purpose, though. Now that I am in the hopefully latter stages of perimenopause (I’m not sure because my mother had a full hysterectomy at 29, her mother died at 53 and I don’t deal with my paternal grandmother because…chile… ) — although I have always had relatively easy cycles and I could definitely set my watch to them, about two years ago, my periods started to show up whenever they felt like it and it was damn near a crime scene once they did.
It was driving me crazy, and so, my nurse practitioner recommended that I take progestin-only pills to shorten, if not completely stop, my cycle: “After a year or so, we can wean off and see if you are entering into menopause on your own.” (Whew, perimenopause, chile.)
Although the first five months of being on this particular pill made me wonder if it was worth it to take this approach, I actually re-upped for another 12-month cycle because the extra progestin (a synthetic form of progesterone) has benefitted me in other areas as well because I am sleeping more soundly and my weight is more stabilized (by the way, when these things are “off,” they are signs of low progesterone levels). However, I did ask my nurse practitioner if, once I do decide to wean off of the pill, would there be any issues.
Her response is what inspired me to write this article because, until she said “post-birth control syndrome” to me, I had no idea there was such a thing. Anyway, if you give me a sec, I’ll explain to you what it is and why you should care if hormone-related birth control is currently a part of your life.
Yes, Post-Birth Control Syndrome Is a Very Real Thing
Okay, so it’s important to always remember that the way that birth control works is it “manipulates” your hormones so that you can significantly reduce your chances of conceiving. This means that taking them could result in some side effects including nausea; weight gain; headaches; irregular periods and/or spotting; increased stress; depression; blurry vision; breast tenderness, and/or a lowered libido.
That said, even though birth control pills are basically 99 percent effective (when taken correctly and consistently), if the side effects that you are experiencing are making you close to miserable, you should absolutely share that with your healthcare provider because…what’s the sense in preventing pregnancy when you don’t even feel up to having sex because you don’t feel good or your sex drive is shot? More times than not, your provider can find you another pill brand or option that will help you to feel more like yourself.
With that out of the way, think about it — if going on the pill can produce side effects, why would going off of it…not? And this is where post-birth control syndrome comes in.
For the most part, it’s what can happen to your body once you decide to come off of birth control. Typically, the symptoms will last anywhere between 4-6 months and, although the symptoms seem to present themselves most intensely as it relates to going off of the pill, any hormone-related birth control (like IUDs, injections, patches, the ring or implants) could produce similar outcomes.
Outcomes like what?
- Irregular cycles
- Breakouts
- Excessive gas and/or bloating
- Weight gain
- Anxiety and/or depression
- Fertility issues
- Migraines and/or headaches
- Shifts in your libido
- Sleeplessness/restlessness
- Hair loss
Whoa, right? And if a part of you is wondering, “Okay, if this is indeed the case, why have I not heard of this syndrome before?” It’s because it’s not a term that conventional method uses nearly as much as alternative medicine does. Still, it makes all of the sense in the world that if your body has to adjust to an uptick in hormonal intake, it would also need to adjust to removing those extra doses of hormones from your system as well. COMMON. DAMN. SENSE.
Anyway, if you were thinking about taking a break from birth control and taking all of this in has you feeling a bit…let’s go with the word “trepidatious” about doing so, I totally get it. There are some things that you can do to make experiencing post-birth control syndrome either a non-issue or a far more bearable one, though.
7 Home Remedies That Can Make Coping with Post-Birth Control Syndrome Easier
1. Take a multivitamin.Something that’s fascinating about what going off of birth control can do is it sometimes has the ability to lower your nutrition levels as it relates to certain vitamins and minerals; this is especially the case when it comes to vitamins B, C, E and minerals like magnesium, selenium and zinc. So, if you don’t currently take a multivitamin, now would be the time to start (along with consuming foods that are particularly high in those nutrients as well).
2. Up your vitamin D intake. Speaking of nutrient levels, a vitamin level that commonly drops after going off of birth control isvitamin D. This is hella critical to keep in mind as a Black woman since many of us tend to be naturally deficient in the vitamin as-is and vitamin D is important when it comes to fighting off diseases, regulating weight and keeping your moods stabilized (for starters). So, make sure that your multivitamin has vitamin D in it. Also make sure to consume vitamin D-enriched foods like fatty fish, eggs, mushrooms, yogurt and fortified orange juice.
3. Drink herbal teas. Since going off of birth control will cause your hormones to be all over the place for a season, consider drinking some herbal teas that will help to stabilize them. Black cohosh contains phytoestrogen properties, Chasteberry can help to level out your prolactin levels and green tea can help your hormones out by helping to balance out your insulin (which can sometimes directly affect them).
4. Keep some ibuprofen nearby. The headaches and migraines? Until those subside, you and ibuprofen are probably going to become really good friends; although I will add that ginger tea and inhaling essential oils like chamomile and lavender can help to ease migraine-related symptoms too.
5. Do some meditating. Waiting for your hormones to get back on track can be stressful as all get out. That said, something that can get your cortisol (stress hormone) levels to chill out is to meditate. If meditation is new for you, check out “7 Meditation Hacks (For People Who Can't Seem To Do It).”
6. Get massages. As if you needed an excuse to get a massage, right (check out “12 Different Massage Types. How To Know Which Is Right For You.”)? However, there is some evidence to back the fact that regular massages (somewhere around once a month) can help to lower your stress, boost your dopamine, increase blood flow and drain your lymphatic system so that you will have more energy.
7. Sleep/rest more. There is plenty of scientific research out here which says that sleep deprivation can throw your hormones out of whack — and since your hormones are already trying to stabilize themselves, you definitely need to get 6-8 hours of sleep and not feel the least bit guilty about taking naps sometimes too.
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Post-birth control syndrome may not be the most pleasant thing about getting off of birth control yet it is manageable. So, now that you know all about it, you can feel more confident about taking a birth control break (or getting off altogether) — without the surprises that can come with doing it. Give thanks.
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