Senegalese Artist Spotlight: Ismaila Manga

Ismaila Manga is a Senegalese Artist and in residence at Village des Arts in Dakar.  He grew up in Senegal and attended Ecole Nationale de Beaux Arts in Senegal.  Following his schooling he moved to Montreal, Canada where he also attended Ecole International du Design de Montreal. 


He is interested in exploring how we are all part of the earth and environment; how we are part of the temporal and history and how we are connected.  He begins that exploration with a combination weathering canvas with dirt and metallic, rusted objects.  Sometimes he leaves the canvas exposed to the elements and sometimes he may burying parts of it.  He manipulates the objects placed on the canvases every so often to layer oxidation.
Once he is satisfied with the condition of the canvas, he then draws figures and communities.  The people and trees are shown connected with each other and the greater environment.
All of the works shown were exhibited during the 2014 Dakart Biennale except the last work which was a part of the 2013 DWG Art Show.

Outside of his Village des Arts studio during the 2014 Biennale

exhibited at DWG Art show 2013

Another Artist in the Family & Lunchbox

 My younger son takes after his mother artistically.  He has seen me share blog posts of my projects and asked if he could also share his art with the world.  He happily creates almost every spare minute he has and like to explore almost all kinds of materials.  Here he is 'fishing' for his Lego Mindstorm scorpion.  He both assembled the robot and engineered the hook/line assembly.  He even dyed the shirt he is wearing.


The next few pictures are a peek into the Gallery of his bedroom.  Mostly the walls are covered with 2D and 3D art he has designed, however there are two pieces of art he has purchased from local artists, Ismaila Manga (small square pencil drawing on canvas)  and Ousmane Sow, artist/painter-not the famous sculptor of the same name (portrait of a young girl.)

In the drawing of the swirly tree and column, he has hidden faces and shapes. Also on the wall, a drawing from a couple years ago of an axolotyl, his favorite animal, made into a Spoonflower wall decal.











 

Now for a couple projects not a part of the 'gallery'.


Clay sculptures, beeswax candle and cyborg doll

cyborg doll on bench of salvaged VHS parts & needle felted cushion

Generally he enjoys planning and creating his own projects, however, he did allow me to make him a lunch box from my It Can Be Hard to Keep Your Hands Clean Greens and Blues Small print. I lined the lunch box with PUL, to make it water-proof and wipeable and Insul-Bright for insulation. The outer fabric is Spoonflower's Silky Faille, and I was able to create this lunchbox from just a fat quarter piece of fabric.

Designer Profile: Dandy Lion Co



toddler pants featuring my design

Chrystina Winston of Portland, Oregon has an adorable Etsy shop, Dandy Lion Company specializing in casual, cool clothes for infants and toddlers up to size 5T.  Her shop was named on Disney's Babble.com list of top baby shops last year. The clothes in her Etsy shop are entirely hand-made in the USA, with fabric designed by herself or purchased from other designers.  I am honored to have one of my fabrics included in her shop.  
You can learn more about Chrystina and Dandy Lion Company on Instagram or Facebook where she posts updates on items, shares blog features and occasionally posts personal highlights for glimpse behind the scenes of her life as a mom.



After Harper



Weaver Bird in color pencils and Pigma pen

It seems like it has been a while since I posted a swap-bot swap.  I have been busy with other projects lately so I only have three cards to share.  The top two designs were inspired by the artwork of Charley Harper.  Instead of ATC's this swap was to design a circular card.  I chose the Weaver Bird which is so common in Africa as my subject.  I have had the pleasure of taking many photos of these birds and I thought their homes would work well with a Harper-like geometrical emphasis. 

I have enjoyed Charley Harper's artwork every since I ran across his original prints while working for Creighton Davis gallery back when I lived in the Washington DC area. (By the way they are having an online auction this Wednesday.)  I wish I had been in the position to purchase a couple at that time.  Sadly, Charley Harper died in 2007 but his work looks as fresh as ever.

Weaver Bird and Mate hand drawn with colored pencils and Pigma pen

This ATC was for Sender's choice, so I modified one of the Tree series I had painted earlier adding this giraffe and the suggestion of the background  trees. I used photographs taken in South Africa as a reference.

South African Bush with Giraffe painted and hand drawn with acrylic paints and Pigma pen

Free Worldwide Shipping in One Week

In one week, Spoonflower will be offering free shipping worldwide for twenty four hours.  If you have been thinking about making a purchase from my shop this may be a good time.   All of the fine print can be found here.

Here is the beautiful Maria in a Kona Cotton dress made from my Circus Tiles on Teal design.

 

Perhaps you would like an elegant scarf in cotton voile or silk crepe de chine in Trash Art Rose Leaves Multi on White.

Or maybe a beachy throw pillow made of faux suede or eco canvas made from my one my Sea Side Selections collection such as Barrier Reef Shell 3.