Ghanain Artist Profile and Class with Oko-Matey

Our teacher, Oko-Matey, speaking. 

Eat and Paint is an events group combining creating art and dinner organized the sculpting and painting workshop I attended.  The session was led by Artist Oko-Matey a graduate and former Lecturer at College of Art at the Kwame Nikrumah University in Kumasi.   He recently returned from a fellowship in Oakton, Wisconsin.  His artwork combines relief sculpture and painting on wood, cement, and metal.  Oko-Matey focuses on integrating traditional themes of Ghanaian visual art into a contemporary idiom.
We explored woodcarving and painting on a plank of wood with.  In addition to this enjoyable class we were all treated to an excellent, gourmet dinner at the Roots Hotel Apartment Sky Deli.   You can contact Eat and Paint here or call Fredrick, 027 442 0466. Photo essay below.

Oko-Matey's painted and carved work.



Plank series by Oko-Matey, paint on sculpted wood.

A prepared sample plank by Oko-Matey.

 

Our planks set up for our class.

Carving and painting supplies prepared.



We begin with some sketches on the plank in chalk.



Getting started on my plank.

A couple participants with gouges (the cutting tool)
and wood to pound it to carve into the wood.



A break for some dinner, spicy chilled soup,
wine (not shown) and various finger foods.
Crème Brule or rice pudding for dessert.
Don't let the small plate fool you.  There was plenty. 

My painting complete! I call it Love Maybe.

What to wear to the concert

At Sprout Patterns, one can use any of the Spoonflower patterns to customize unique clothing. 
This month the Moneta Dress is 20% off with the code MONTETAMADNESS.  These dresses strike me as being particularly great outfits for going out for an evening.  Bonus:  Free US and International shipping through March as well on orders over $100.
Presenting:  What to wear to the concert.....

Afrocuban Retro Sleeveless Moneta Dress

This dress invokes the hot nights and hot rhythms of Afrocuban beats.  Get your dance on.

Collar: Solid Mint by Littlearrowdesign, Dress: African Visage Spring by Bloomingwyldeiris

or buy it at Sprout Patterns here.

Island Breeze Short Sleeve Moneta Dress

A fresh, breezy dress for listening to the mellow sounds of the steelpan band.

Dress: Tropical Paradise Scatter with Blue Mosaic Background by bloomingwyldeiris

or buy it at Sprout Patterns here.

 

Coffeehouse Acoustic 3/4 Sleeve Moneta Dress

Casual yet stylish threads to wear to open mic night.

Dress: Boho Blossoms Elegant Blush and Sage Large by bloomingwyldeiris

 or buy it at Sprout Patterns here.

 

And if dresses aren't your thing, Sprout Patterns also has shirts.

Bluegrass Blues

Wear your love for Bluegrass on your sleeve.

Shirt: Strumming the Strings Blue by bloomingwyldeiris

or buy it at Sprout Patterns here. 



Batik Ghana Style

Using a wood stamp dipped in wax as a resist

Batik is a method of wax resist to dye to create designs on fabric.  Batik was popular in Senegal but motifs tended to be smaller than in Ghana, and really tie-dye was just as popular. In Ghana, batik is very popular and the motifs tend to be larger. Often two or more colors or designs may be used on the same fabric.  Adrinka symbols are common.
I participated in a workshop, organized by NAWA as a fundraiser for New Horizons School.  Our workshop leaders, Mariama, Bernice and Denise work with the school and teach this workshop regularly to organizations as well as the students of the school.
We were each given two yards of white cotton fabric and were allowed to select from a wide variety foam and wood wax stamps.  The stamp faces ranged from about three inches to approximately 1 foot square.  Mariama gave us each a turn with the stamps to see if we were more comfortable with the wood or foam.  Wood stamps are only good for one go while the foam absorbs more wax and can be used repeatedly before needing to be dipped again.  The foam takes a little more practice to control.  I ended up using one design from each material.

Mariama ironed my fabric before we left (she ironed all of them.)

After the first pass of the design, the fabric soaks for a couple minutes in cold water to harden the wax and then goes into the dye vat.  After a few minutes in the vat, it's out to the lawn to dry in the sun.  Once the fabric dries, it's time for round too.  Again stamping, again soaking and then the next dye.  The second dye easily overdyed the previous color and so only the new stamped resist is the first dye color.
Bernise and Denise were the pros at dyeing. 
After the second round dyeing and drying, our fabric goes in to a huge boiling pot of water where the wax melts and floats to the top.  There it is skimmed off to be used again.  Next the fabric is rinsed, and more wax floats off.  To finish, fabric is then washed, rinsed again and then ironed.
All of this process was completed without electricity.  We melted the wax and heated the water over charcoal fires.


warm wax on the grill

the dyes and gloves

new foam stamps

the first dye vat, it started golden and turned pink

Getting a good look at the progress so far with the 2nd stamping

drying after the 2nd dye

Mariama cleaning the wax off with boiling water

trying to wash the rest of the wax off

our class fabric drying on the line

designs from the New Horizons school shop

Recent Small Works

Serenity Garden

I have found time to do a few Swap-bot swaps this past month.  ATCs can't be beat for a quick art project that fulfills the need to create.  It is a nice break from some of the larger projects I have been working on.
The first picture is an ATC diptych 'Serenity Garden'.  The challenge was to create a paper collage and then draw/paint the collage on a second card.  I drew it freehand with colored pencils.  I think I could have done a better job if I used a grid to transfer the design over.  It was also hard to get the color pencil colors intense enough.


Coy Kitty

The second picture is a collage of papers and plastic.  The only requirement was the ATC include a heart.  Here there is a yellow-eyed, white cat peeking out from behind the heart.  I titled it 'Coy Kitty.'
The last picture is a folded paper Geisha bookmark.  You can find instructions here.  It was so fun that I made another with one of the neighbor girls.

Geshia bookmark

Sunshine and Relaxation

Here I am relaxing on the couch after finishing these lounge pants.  As soon as I completed my Art Gallery Printed Paper Play print, I said to my nieces this print needs to be made into soft pants.  Spoonflower recently made available Cotton Spandex Jersey, perfect for my project; so soft and comfy. This colorful organic print was made from a leftover printing project from my daughters class last year.  I cut out a bunch of shapes that were used by her class as an ink resist for Gelli plates.  I scanned in the shapes and then played with them in my design program.   Summer Blossoms Garden and the other color variations (below,) part of my Monoprint Variations collection, were designed in collaboration with my daughter using the same process.

Spoonflower will soon be changing the format of it's contests, so this may or may not be my last entry.  The theme is weather and love.  I chose to draw elements with colored pencils to make a sweet and sentimental ode to my children.  I have been singing You Are My Sunshine to them since they were infants.  Sometimes I still serenade them to wake them in the morning.  :)  Please consider voting.


You are my Sunshine

Here is a brief clip of the Soggy Bottom Boys singing You Are My Sunshine from the excellent film O Brother Where Art Thou.

Adinkra Symbols and Heart

In Michigan I was able to take a little beading class using copper wire.  I wasn't able to finish the piece at the time and then found later I did not bring enough beads home.  Thankfully, the greens and purples were of various colors and I was able to go through my stash and find enough similar beads.  As I finished my pendant, the heart shape with spirals reminded me of Adinkra symbols that one sees everywhere in Ghana.  So I looked them up.  This shape reminds me of these two: Asase ye duru and Sankofa.
The symbols are thought to have come to Ghana via the Asante people from conquered king in Côte D’Ivoire and have been dated from preserved textiles from at least the early part of the 19th century. 
Historically the images were printed on fabric using gourd stamps, printed with ink made from bark and roots boiled with iron scraps to make a dark brown color.
Now the modern methods are used including screen printing and batiks.

The symbols are found all over southern Ghana today.  In addition to fabrics, they are frequently seen in cement blocks and even plastic chairs.  Gye Nyame, meaning 'God is supreme', is the most common symbol I have seen.  At a hotel I stayed at, the symbol was also described as meaning 'protection' but I have not seen that attribution anywhere else. 
Ghanaians seem to be a very religious people and considered themselves monotheists even before modern times.  (Read this scholarly article if you want more information.  It is missing the attribution but seems to have been written by Kwasi Bempong and possibly part of his 2003 thesis Barbarous Magnificence the Decline and Continuity of Akan Traditional Religious Practices.)  Today in Southern Ghana, where I live, Christianity is in evidence everywhere.  Taxi names, business names and hymns are sung almost everywhere and it seems to have replaced or maybe reframed the already religious nature of the Ghanaian people.  It is possible these symbols are also popular in the more Muslim north, however, I have not visited that area and other tribes are predominate there.
The Adinkra symbols often have proverbs associated with them such as the ones I mentioned earlier; Asase ye duru:  'all power emanates from the earth' and 'the earth is heavier than the sea.'  or Sankofa:  'It is not taboo to return to fetch something you forgot earlier on.'
Adrinka symbols are still created today.  The newest being a symbol to commemorate Ghana's independence.  To see even more symbols visit here.

Artist Profile: Susan Strangway

Canadian artist Susan Strangway's art is hard not to notice.  Her playful designs and color really bowled me over.
I asked Susan if she had a philosophy to her work and she responded "to me art is life and life is art."  She said her biggest artistic statement is her home. 











The home of Susan Strangway and Weave Cleaveland is filled with her fabric, art, altered items and unique vision to a beautiful, whimsical effect. 

The couple owned a beautiful Art Deco home which was well loved in their community.  Sadly, the home was too delerlict and needed to be torn down.  The couple then built a new home which became the canvas to their unique vision.

They were approached this last holiday season to open their home to tours for charity for the Nite of Hope breast cancer fundraiser along with other community homes.  See below for your own mini virtual tour.

Susan and her dog

Susan's home may be her favorite canvas, however she continues to work on other projects.  She designs fabrics on Spoonflower, creates items to sell such as tea towels and aprons and has been commissioned to create embroidery designs.

My family considers itself lucky that we have access to Susan's work via her Spoonflower shop called Orangefancy.  My daughter loves her new Strawberry Dance lycra dance leggings.