Bayoc, Cbabi

(Clifford Miskell)

Personal

Born in Fort Dix, NJ; son of Sandra Louise Miskell; married; wife's name Reine (an artist); children: Jurni Moon, Ajani Day. Education: Belleville Area College (now Southwest Illinois College), A.A. (liberal arts); Grambling State University, B.A. (drawing and painting).

Addresses

Home and office—St. Louis, MO. Office—Bayoc Studio, 4177 Cleveland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110. E-mail—[email protected].

Career

Illustrator. Worked previously as a caricaturist at Six Flags (amusement park), 1997.

Member

New Power House (honorary member).

Illustrator

Ruth Forman, Young Cornrows Callin out the Moon: Poem, Children's Book Press (San Francisco, CA), 2007.

Sidelights

As artist Cbabi Bayoc noted on his home page, his mission in life is to create "art which reflects [my] … love of music and family." Bayoc's full name, which he created, is also a representation of himself as an artist: it is an acronym in which Cbabi stands for "Creative Black Artist Battling Ignorance" and Bayoc stands for "Blessed African Youth of Creativity."

Bayoc began his artistic career working as a caricaturist at Six Flags amusement park, and he has bone on to find success creating caricatures for musicians' album covers. In addition to creating his unique caricatures, Bayoc has also created illustrated works for large corporations, such as Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, and SIDS Resource. In an interview for the University of Missouri—St. Louis Web site, Bayoc advised aspiring artists to "create as much as you can with 100 percent effort, and then find a great college with a great art department with a great staff with great connections to the outer art world."

Bayoc's first illustration project, the children's book Young Cornrows Callin out the Moon: Poem follows Ruth Forman's rhyming text as she reminisces about summers as a child in South Philly. The rhyming text recalls hot summer days spent playing games and eating ice cream, having her hair braided in cornrows, and watching the moon in the night sky. Bayoc's illustrations capture these memories, employing "thick lines and bright colors in exaggerated folklore style" according to Hazel Rochman in Booklist. Mary Hazelton, writing in School Library Journal, commented that Bayoc's images for Young Cornrows Callin out the Moon "swirl with energy, movement, and color," and Clarence V. Reynolds wrote in Black Issues Book Review that the energetic illustrations "don't miss a beat" in keeping the rhythm of Forman's poetry.

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

Black Issues Book Review, March-April, 2007, Clarence V. Reynolds, review of Young Cornrows Callin out the Moon: Poem, p. 23.

Booklinks, March, 2007, Angela Leeper, review of Young Cornrows Callin out the Moon, p. 32.

Booklist, February 1, 2007, Hazel Rochman, review of Young Cornrows Callin out the Moon, p. 60.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, June, 2007, Deborah Stevenson, review of Young Cornrows Callin out the Moon, p. 414.

School Library Journal, March, 2007, Mary Hazelton, review of Young Cornrows Callin out the Moon, p. 195.

ONLINE

Cbabi Bayoc Home Page,http://www.bayocstudio.com (December 15, 2007).

New Power Clique Web site,http://www.newpowerclique.com/ (December 15, 2007), "Cbabi Bayoc—Painter and Illustrator."

St. Louis Artists' Guild Web site,http://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/ (December 15, 2007), "Cbabi Bayoc: Emerging Local Artists, on the National Scene."

University of Missouri—St. Louis Web site,http://www.umsl.edu/ (December 15, 2007), interview with Bayoc.