awana Lockett was born and raised in the heart of America in the fabulous city of Chicago, Illinois. The Cook County native has been a talented artist for practically her entire life. She recalls being able to draw realistic-looking faces even in pre-school. But she knew she had real talent when she was about 8 years old. She remembers an incident in which she finished her sister's paint by number painting. "I remember being in third grade and I finished my sister's paint by number project. I could hardly see the numbers but I made the painting look good and I finished it. My sister got angry at me when my mother complimented the painting." It was at that point that she began her life-long love affair with the art world. While in high school she became interested in Art History and later when she enrolled in college she made sure to include Art as one of her majors. Unfortunately for the budding young artist her education in the Arts didn't last very long. Influenced by well-meaning associates, Jawana left her studies at Columbia College within two short years as she began doubting herself and believing others when they insisted that she would not be able to make a decent living as an artist. She then switched gears and began studies in the Culinary Arts for which she did for a year. Although she admits she was good at it and it did fulfill a need to be creative, she did not like the competitive aspect of the culinary world and realized it was not the ideal creative outlet that she craved.


Jawana eventually came to the conclusion that she could not settle for working just for an income at something that did not sustain her creatively. She then switched gears again and decided to return to her first love and enrolled at the International Academy of Design and Technology to study Multi-media Arts. She perfected her craft and experimented with different materials in addition to painting. After studying for a few years, she ended up taking a break from art altogether. Again listening to the naysayers who said it was not a good way to make a living. Her hiatus from the arts lasted for approximately six years. She worked in the banking industry, left her hometown of Chicago and did not pick up a paintbrush again until 2010.