October marks Long Beach Arts Month, and the Long Beach Post has partnered with the Arts Council for Long Beach to celebrate the image makers, the painters, the dancers, the designers, the musicians, and the countless other artists who make our city vibrant and cultured. Our homepage will feature an artist’s own unique interpretation of Long Beach daily, so make sure to check back every weekday to discover or rediscover a local talent.
Reid Atkins believes that business and art go hand-in-hand—hence why she is getting her BFA in Drawing and Painting while minoring in Business. Her work largely revolves around art that can be transformed into tattoos, an art she herself is learning.
“I actually designed a tattoo for my friend last year and he actually got it done,” Atkins said. “It’s my first design to be put on someone so I am very proud. I believe tattoos are the most wonderful things!”
Hailing from San Diego, Atkins has a particular love, at least artistically, for two things: animals and Día de los Muertos, the former of which is exemplified in her interpretation of Long Beach. Harkening to the complete restoration of the Colorado Lagoon, a beautiful water space that was once one of the city’s most polluted and is now one its most revered, and the marina docks that surround our shores, Atkins chose the Blue Heron as her focus.
“Without fail every morning right as the sun is coming up,” Atkins said, “the Blue Herons sit along the shore and by the docked boats and I have always loved seeing them. So I decided—since out of all the marine life that is in Long Beach—the Blue Heron is beautiful and represents this city very well.”