My Latest Paintings

This was inspired from a photo I took at the bead market. I loved the positions of the ladies along with the peeling posters behind their heads. It is a combination of my new and old styles. The posters were painted with a paint knife, the background is in roller and dry brush. I am experimenting with fabric manipulation. When I compare the two ladies I actually prefer the one without the details. There is something calming about her. No features makes you focus on her clothes and surroundings. I am happy with the colours, beads and touch of fabric.

This is my new favourite. There is something very appealing about the colour scheme and realism in the dresses. This time I tried painting the fabric designs outside the figures. I like how the white creates a focal point, movement and contrast. One of the strands of beads is threaded onto wire which made it very easy to shape into an interesting design. I like how the other two strands hang.

This was inspired from the bead seller at the festival I went to. She was actually leaning against a red wall but I found the orange and yellow background to be not as successful so I changed the background to a red black which created more contrast. Somehow the painting used more greens than reds. The fabric is one of my favourite prints in Ghana.

I am very happy with this piece. It was actually the second one of my female/market series. I particularly like the dress, and  the colour combinations. It was the detail in this dress that made me change my style slightly.

This shows you what my studio is looking like right now. It is definitely a more unified theme.

I actually really like this by itself as well. It is really fun creating the coloured backgrounds.

Here is a different one. The pink circular pattern is a new discovery I squeezed some paint out over the canvas than then gently rolled rollers over it. I was going to blend the colour in but actually loved the effect so kept it. I really like the stencil design too because it reminds me of Adinkra symbols and fabric design. I didn’t think this one needed the fabric or the beads.

This was an older one which I reworked with my new style. Recently I have been creating texture with my paint alone but this one has the actual and implied texture. I do prefer these colours and the touch of beads.

I actually painted this today and as you can see it is very different to all the others. I loved this mural when I first saw it in James Town. As I had a photo of the man painting it I though it would make a great painting in its own right. Greg says I paint too many women so here is a man! (Haha) Even though the woman is still there and quite a bit bigger. I actually have 3 “men” paintings planned one with a tro tro and another with a tree. I would love to capture the amazingly colourful African men as their fabrics are just as gorgeous as the women’s. However, I do love the curves, babies and strength of the women in their daily lives.