There was this man on 125th Street dressed all in green. His style and presence caught Bonnie Phillips’ attention. With that, she began to take her artwork more seriously.
Born and raised in London, Phillips found her place in the world in Harlem, where she has lived for 25 years and raised two sons. Just walking around her neighborhood inspires her. The images, the sounds, the people, and the social concerns fuel her art. Even riding the subway brings ideas. She calls it Journo Art, describing her journey in the world and seeing herself as somewhat of a visual journalist.
Although she enjoyed painting in her youth — a high school teacher encouraged her to apply to art school — she mostly put it aside after moving to the U.S. There have been surges of inspiration, such as about 20 years ago when she put together an art show as a fundraiser for a tutoring program at which she volunteered. But after becoming a mother and also having a career as a school counselor, her painting became less of a priority.
Her artistic journey began in earnest when she saw a man dressed head to toe in gold lamé with a pinstripe. “I thought someone should take that photo,” Phillips recalled. “The next time I saw him, he had a platinum lamé pinstripe. I thought, ‘That’s a picture.’”
At the time, she wasn’t really taking herself seriously in terms of her art, but she would see people and think, ‘those are paintings.’ It took her a while, but eventually she stated her intentions as an artist. Just before the pandemic, a group of women she knew decided they wanted to regenerate their creativity.
“Harlem Heritage West 116th” by Bonnie Phillips. (Images courtesy of Bonnie Phillips) 
“Three Dogs in Harlem” by Bonnie Phillips. (Images courtesy of Bonnie Phillips) 
A painting by Bonnie Phillips depicting the flight of white families from integrated public schools. (Images courtesy of Bonnie Phillips)
“I wanted to capture people from the Diaspora,” she said. “Walking around in Harlem, I’d see people who had tremendous style. One day, I got off at 125th at Metro North, and I saw this man, and he was head to toe in green — shoes, hat, everything. I said, ‘Excuse me, you look amazing.’ He said, ‘Me?’ I said, ‘Yes, may I take your picture? I’m an artist, I’d love to do a painting.’ That was the first person I stopped and said, ‘I’d like to do a painting of you.’ It started from there. Ever since, as I see people in a certain style of dress, that garners my attention.”
Over the years, she’s been doing paintings of people in the community. Phillips has been a featured artist with the West Harlem Arts Alliance. A recent show included a painting of her son wearing a t-shirt that says “Harlem Heritage.” She thinks her fascination with people’s clothing comes from the fact that her mother was a seamstress, and Phillips has always been aware of style and fashion.
As time has passed, Phillips has noticed fewer and fewer older people in her Harlem neighborhood, saying they have either left New York City or perhaps passed on. It’s her way of documenting those people who gave Harlem a unique sense of style.
These days, she works part-time as a school counselor and spends more time painting. She recently sold a painting called “Three Dogs in Harlem,” depicting a woman Phillips saw in the park who had her dogs all dressed in Adidas jackets. The woman’s only request was that her face not be realistic in the painting.
“I took another approach, which was outside of my style, but she really gave me a gift because I took a more non-realistic approach to her sitting on the bench, but the dogs I did realistically,” Phillips explained. “I’ve shown the painting at a couple of places, and it’s been very popular. It was in Marcus Garvey Park as an outdoor art piece.”
She has a piece right now with Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA). There is another piece at El Barrio’s Artspace. Her work has also been shown at Art on the Ave NYC and at Heath Gallery in Harlem. You can find more about her work on Instagram and on her website at bonniephillips08.wixsite.com/mysite.
“It’s wonderful being in group shows, meeting other artists, and supporting other artists,” she said. “It’s important going to openings and going to artists’ talks.”