I organized a Painting workshop at a retirement village, delving into the theme 'Celebrating our sisters'. It marked the beginning of a series of workshops tailored to a mature and creative audience.
I was granted this amazing opportunity to explore the theme of this years Black history and created a very fun & educational workshop! To eliminate procrastination, i pre- drew each canvas with prominent Black Women across the diaspora; little simz as some of you may have seen her from Topboy ( real ones know her for her rapping!), Naomi Campbell one of the worlds top models and the first black model to feature on the covers of Time and Vogue Paris to Michaela Coel an actor we all love from chewing gum and her statement piece ' I may destroy you ' addressing serious topics society turns a blind eye to. Each canvas had a story of its own to tell and their contribution towards black history .
As well as that, I also presented a PowerPoint on Black female artists within the contemporary art scene. Black women make up less than 1% of artists and it was important that I shed light on their contribution as a black artist myself as often we are left out of the conversation when acknowledging black creativity. The artists i covered was Lubaina Himid - a notable in the ' Black art movement in the 1980s' as well as being the first black women to win the Turner prize in 2017. Her work addressed Black peoples contribution across the diaspora in terms of build, culture and wealth and also centralises on themes of cultural history and reclaiming identities. Himid has paved the way for artist like myself to be confident in showing my work and applying to spaces where we are seen less off. The second artist was Sarah Owusu who creates vibrant, expressionistic portraits of prominent figures within black history. The residents learnt about 2 new artist as well as understanding themes behind my art.
To get the energy going , I did an interactive tutorial on 'How to mix black skin tones' with a step by step tutorial showing the residents how to mix black skin tones in acrylic paints. The residents loved this activity and where in awe at how amazing colour theory can be, as I showed them different combinations of mixing black skin tones. To end the night, the participants applied the tutorial to their pre drawn canvas and enjoyed a fine selection of afrobeat's! It was certainly one of my favourite events I've hosted this year audience
1 comment
Excellent work. I loved this a lot, well done!