Broken Shattered and in Pieces by Ms. Beverly Burrell
Pencil/Acrylic
Meet the artist: Ms. Beverly Burrell
Inspiration for the piece:
If My Heart Could Speak
I wish you would have protected me that day instead of choosing to stay. That demonstration set the tone, even to this day.
Broken, shattered and in pieces.
Who would have thought this would have been my storyline.
I wear it so well, can you tell?
I wish I could have enjoyed my childhood instead of having the responsibilities of a mother. Then at fourteen becoming a mother.
Broken, shattered and in pieces.
But in awe and in love (it's a boy) my baby boy that I vowed to protect, until gun violence became a threat.
Broken, shattered and in pieces.
But my baby girl keeps me alive.
The navigation of my life journey has not been easy sailing. Statistics will show the data that will lead to my demise.
I'm a product of my environment and I can't afford to change my environment, everybody needs me.
The weight is heavy.
I roll the dice and take a chance with my life.
Broken, shattered and in pieces.
275 months and lives lost was the price!! Was it worth it? Hell NO!!
There was no pathway that could lead me or that I could see. Now, I'm being judged for what's embedded in me.
My communities are considered Redline communities (that's high risk) good examples, I never saw me!
But I always saw you!
Now here I am, standing before you, listening to you tell me about who I should be.
What was the example, then, I needed to see?
Broken, shattered and in pieces.
I pose the question?
How is the constitution the constitution when I don't see me?
The 13th amendment was created to continue to fulfill the dream!
Blow after blow, NO NO NO NO NO NO, but I'm still praying for the 3.
Addictions, welfare, homelessness, domestic violence. I was kidnapped at 13.
Where was the system when I needed them?
Now I'm asking for a second chance.
But my heart says
It's your first.
Broken, shattered and in pieces.
Now I ask what do you see?!
Here's me.
All remedies exhausted is what my heart speaks . . .
by Beverly Burrell
July 30, 2025
Titled: Broken, Shattered and In Pieces
What role does art play in your life?
The role that art plays in my life is my life story and what inspires me is life experiences, culture, people and community, nature and my environment.
Artist statement:
My creativity comes from a place of being a survivor and a resilient woman in the midst of trials and tribulations. Being connected to my inner self grounds me and reassures me that I am gifted and my life has many purposes, both of which allow me to pour into the many forms of my art and creativity. Creativity provides me with a euphoric energy and hopefulness towards the new beginnings of my life journey, while helping me reflect on my past and expand in self-growth.
Spoken Heart … Westminster Presbyterian Church
In the AFTI Store:
11” x 14”
The emblematic Toh bird symbolizes my new beginning in a foreign land. Just as the Toh leaves its cavernous sinkhole home to explore the wide jungle, I left the cavernous walls of a 6x9 cell. I am shedding the heartless value system imposed on me and moving into a new, lighter existence. Although the Toh is flying free, the weight of its past is ever-present.
16” x 20”
Medium: Acrylic and watercolor
Letting people know that you are not alone. Your past does not define you. I wanted to share my pain and what I've struggled with growing up. That I was able to let go and move on from it and grow. Being free in my mind, body and spirit. Knowing that I changed and living in my truth.
16” x 20”
Medium: Colored pencil on Bristol paper
As I sit in this cage, I always view birds as free, but I didn't want to do an eagle or hawk. I wanted to catch the viewer's eye, and a kingfisher caught my eye with its bright colors. I feel free and viewed.
16” x 20”
Medium: Graphite and colored pencil
My home town is surrounded by 3 reservations. So many Native American women and girls go missing or end up dead with little news coverage. So this case, this logo speaks to me but I wanted to bring it to life.
16” x 20”
Medium: Pencil on Strathmore 500 series paper with a plate finish
"Mako sica" in the Dakota language means"forgotten/abandoned" which is what motivated me to do the portrait of Ohiye'Sa (Charles A. Eastman,) 1858-1939, from Redwood Falls, Minnesota Territory, an American physician, writer, social reformer. One of the first Native Americans to be certified in Western medicine, and played a huge part in 32 chapters of the YMCA/Boy Scouts of America. How can someone who touched so many lives be so easily forgotten? To bring this piece to life with a mere pencil forces me to believe we can once again live in a world without judgement/abandonment. The value places in the drawing is the value I hope can again be placed in those who have been forgotten. Never Forget!
16” x 20”
Medium: Acrylic
Back to my memories of growing up on the farm and around lakes.
16” x 20”
Medium: Acrylic, pencil, crayons
If my heart could speak it would tell you that something is missing. Behind all the smiles, laughter and good times, her heart yearns for more. She sees beauty on the outside but inside she feels broken. The biggest thing her heart has continued to explore and learn is acceptance of one's flaws and that it's okay to be imperfectly perfect.
The inspiration for my piece has to do with a part of my missing identity. I know on my mother's side we are German and Norwegian. But I know nothing of my father's side. His parents were immigrants from Mexico. I've felt like half of my culture is missing from my life, and I crave for knowledge of my other half.
I listened to a variety of music while completing my art piece. Music and art have been my constant companions for most of my life. It was super important to incorporate both aspects in my final project.
A color I love is fushia so it was very important that I also put that in my piece. I love cool colors like blues and greens and so it was important for me to incorporate those colors. I have an issue with things being perfect. I chose to be imperfect with my brush strokes, not always covering every inch of my canvas with color, and not always working in the same direction.
11” x 14”
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
My metaphorical heart - and, I believe, every human heart - is filled with layer upon layer of grief and love and loss and joy. I'm not always able to access complexity in the moment when yet another tragedy strikes; the good is obscured, invisible, absent from my perception, while the world both inside and out seems full of nearly unbearable emotions and experiences. In those times - in these times, in this harrowing start to 2026 - it feels like my heart has lost every language but that of the blood, and it spills, it pours without end, without mercy.
(Title - prefaced by text in painting - from Psalm 94.)
18” x 24”
Medium: Pencil and acrylic paint
If my heart could speak, it would speak of what remains after the fire.
The reaching hand stands in the aftermath... not as rescue, but as resolve. Destruction changes us, but it does not remove our power to shape what comes next.
Rebuilding is a choice.
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
The emblematic Toh bird symbolizes my new beginning in a foreign land. Just as the Toh leaves its cavernous sinkhole home to explore the wide jungle, I left the cavernous walls of a 6x9 cell. I am shedding the heartless value system imposed on me and moving into a new, lighter existence. Although the Toh is flying free, the weight of its past is ever-present.
16” x 20” and 11” x 14” sold as a set of 2
Medium: Acrylic on panel and canvas
The true inspiration behind this piece is life in today's world and all the trials and tribulations that other people are going through I wish for a little reprieve and hope the world can be surrounded by peace at some point.
11” x 14”
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
My metaphorical heart - and, I believe, every human heart - is filled with layer upon layer of grief and love and loss and joy. I'm not always able to access complexity in the moment when yet another tragedy strikes; the good is obscured, invisible, absent from my perception, while the world both inside and out seems full of nearly unbearable emotions and experiences. In those times - in these times, in this harrowing start to 2026 - it feels like my heart has lost every language but that of the blood, and it spills, it pours without end, without mercy.
(Title - prefaced by text in painting - from Psalm 94.)
18” x 24”
Medium: Pencil and acrylic paint
If my heart could speak, it would speak of what remains after the fire.
The reaching hand stands in the aftermath... not as rescue, but as resolve. Destruction changes us, but it does not remove our power to shape what comes next.
Rebuilding is a choice.
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
The emblematic Toh bird symbolizes my new beginning in a foreign land. Just as the Toh leaves its cavernous sinkhole home to explore the wide jungle, I left the cavernous walls of a 6x9 cell. I am shedding the heartless value system imposed on me and moving into a new, lighter existence. Although the Toh is flying free, the weight of its past is ever-present.
16” x 20” and 11” x 14” sold as a set of 2
Medium: Acrylic on panel and canvas
The true inspiration behind this piece is life in today's world and all the trials and tribulations that other people are going through I wish for a little reprieve and hope the world can be surrounded by peace at some point.
11” x 14”
The emblematic Toh bird symbolizes my new beginning in a foreign land. Just as the Toh leaves its cavernous sinkhole home to explore the wide jungle, I left the cavernous walls of a 6x9 cell. I am shedding the heartless value system imposed on me and moving into a new, lighter existence. Although the Toh is flying free, the weight of its past is ever-present.
11” x 14”
We all take in other's pain