Mural Project - Ndebele Inspired

I have been selected to create an Ndebele inspired mural for Tacolcy, The Advisory Committee of Liberty City Youth.  This is quite an honor.  The Ndebele people are located in South Africa and are reknown for the beautiful and colorful patterns painted on their village homes and property walls.  It is the women who create the paintings.  The patterns as they are called, are abstract and have been passed down within a family from great-great grandmothers to their daughters for generations.  The Ndebele paintings serve as a form of communication.  Many of the compositions are painted to announce marriages, births and special events in the family. The Ndebele people were originally a part of the Zulu tribes.  In the 1800's they broke away and formed their own group.  During the early days the paintings were mainly communications of war, violence and the sadness over the loss of a battle.  Over the years they evolved to what we see today, brightly colored geometric patterns and abstract compositions.  Many of the Ndebele women still use the original tools to create the paintings.  Their tools consist of twigs for brushes and a blend of sand, plants and other organic materials for pigment.  The walls of white washed plaster serves as the canvas for the elaborately drawn patterns. 

Yesterday, I met with Alison Austin, CEO of Tacolcy, and her staff to present my initial drawings and plans for mural.  I had the opportunity to share a brief historical background of the Ndebele women artists and the artistic overview of the design plan.  It was Alison's idea to use the Ndebele art as a reference for the mural.  I have created six drawings to represent the mission and vision of Tacolcy.  Once the design has been laid out on the 45 ft. wide x 8 ft. high wall, I will guide and direct 15 female lawyers through the painting of the colors for each section.  These women will donate their time and resources to the mural painting as a contribution to Tacolcy.  We are all very excited about the project.  I will post updates throughout the mural production process.   

New Day, New Beginnings



Today, July 4th, 2011, the celebration of our indepence also marks the day of beginnings for me; this is my first blog post ever. I am a visual artist (painter, illustrator and muralist). I also market prints of my work and plan to offer four new prints shortly. 

Last month, I participated in a cultural art event that marked the Juneteenth Celebration, held at the Broward Historical Commission in Fort Lauderdale, FL.  The event titled "The Lynching Eye" was a production in the form of choreo-poem, which combined dance and poetry. Spawned and translated from one author's perspective to another, the event told the story of Rubin Stacy by Summer Hill Seven. The "poemedy project" aspired to explore concepts for new language and organic theatre, while creating a fusion of voice, body and word. Alexis Caputo presented the event.

The painting in this post is titled "1962", which depicts another year in the era of quest for freedom in the US.  It's amazing that approximately 100 years after the Emanicipation Proclamation we were still in struggle for freedom.  We were freed from slavery and subsequently struggled for and gained the "freedom of expression".  It's 2011 and it feels good to be free to paint and create whatever I feel and for the good of all mankind.