Viewers of her work think it’s colorful and full of vibrancy and life. The energy radiating from her paintings and sculptures is as much of a trademark as her carefully scripted signature adorned on her pieces.

Artist Monica Tookes was at NIU this weekend as a special guest of the NIU Black Alumni Council, in celebration of Homecoming weekend. Her work, which was displayed at the Center for Black Studies over the weekend, touched on all areas of the art she creates. Some pieces were canvas paintings, mostly depicting relationships or music.

Most of her paintings dealt with relationships between men and women. Her sculptures dealt more with the aspect of music. With family roots set in New Orleans, music, particularly jazz, was a major influence in her life.

“Music is therapy. Music helps you heal,” she said. “After the events of Sept. 11, the first thing people looked to in order to get back into their daily lives was music and other forms of the art.”

Although Tookes adores her work and all of the time she spends on it, her art may never have developed to the point it has if it had not been for a special teacher she had in high school. This teacher saw something inside of Tookes that needed to be shared with the world, so this teacher began entering her work in contests. Unknown to Tookes, she was winning every single one of them.

Aware of the talent that she possessed, she went against the grain, dropped her pre-law major and studied art.

“Art is definitely not a choice on the SAT or ACT when deciding what profession you want,” she said. “Yet, it has been a huge influence and a huge pounding inside of me that I wanted to pursue.”

Now, just a few years after she graduated from Atlanta’s Spelman College, she has her own successful business and is doing something she loves.

“At 25, I wake up every day and paint,” she said. “It makes me feel so tremendously blessed.”

Several alumni came out to view and support Tookes’ work.

“I really like her work,” NIU alumnus Darron Glasper said. “I am also in the arts myself and I really just like the way she blends the colors together and the color choice she uses.”

Another viewer of Tookes’ art agreed.

“I like the way she just draws you into her work,” NIU alumnae Rosiland Carter said. “With so many textures going on, it’s so interesting to look at. I can’t even describe it. You just have to see it for yourself to see the type of energy and emotion she brings out.”

Monica Tookes’ work can be viewed online at www.monicafineart.com.