SHOP MADE IN DC

Framed prints displayed and sold during Shop Made in DC’s second, third, and fourth SHE | DC exhibitions. 

During the pandemic, I started creating colorful digital illustrations almost daily, many of which reflected developing political events.

In March of 2021, I submitted a few pieces to the SHE | DC exhibition, Shop Made in DC’s celebration of local women creatives for Women’s History Month. The event curators selected me as the featured artist for their Wharf location and showcased eight of my designs of inspiring political women and iconic scenes around DC. All eight pieces sold out before the show ended, kickstarting my art business: selling prints, postcards, greeting cards, and stickers of my illustrations online (AleR-G.square.site) and at local art markets and shops around the DMV (Shop Made in DC, Shop Made in MD, Arttepuy, and Steadfast Supply).

I applied to SHE | DC 2022 with three pieces that represented my Puerto Rican and Mexican heritage: two self-portraits using the flag colors, textiles, patterns, and official flowers of each country, and an illustrated bouquet of the official flowers of everywhere I have lived and where my parents are from. All three pieces sold during the show.

For SHE | DC 2023, I created artwork symbolizing spring in DC, featuring the popular cherry blossoms and tulips that both tourists and DC-natives look forward to every March. To make the pieces more unique, I hand drew elements of the design using gold ink over the digitally produced print. Once again, the three pieces sold before the end of the show.