Basket of Butterflies Portrait
Inspirational Metal Art by Injete Chesoni
Medium: Acrylic Painting on Embossed Metal
Size: 16.6" x 29.3"
SOLD
Send orders to Buy Artwork to minjete@gmail.com
Showing posts with label women art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label women art. Show all posts
Friday, December 28, 2012
Inspirational Metal Art: Basket of Butterflies
Earlier this year I received a request to do a commission of three metal paintings featuring young women. The commission was for a young women's institution with a focus on leadership. So I wanted to do paintings which were inspirational and which at the same time captured the essence of young women. While working on the commission I created a few other paintings and this is one of them. The butterfly is symbolic of inspiration, flight and freedom.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Evolution of An Artist: from Shadows of Doubt to Fields of Dreams
Today I am celebrating my evolution as an artist. It is always good to examine one's growth over time. I started my creative journey back in 2004. I was working as a consultant back then and never defined myself as an artist. Throughout my high school and college years I leaned towards Economics and the sciences. I never even took art as a subject in high school even though I enjoyed painting and made some rather amateurish attempts back in my teenage years. Then one day in 2004 I just began drawing again I can't explain why or what moved me (see Shadows of Doubt drawing below). My mother loved the art piece which I stuck up on my bedroom wall and suggested I should pursue art more seriously.
In December 2004 my sister Atsango and I were doing Christmas shopping at the museum art gallery and we came across two beautiful metal art pieces, she bought one for herself and one for my brother Solomon and his wife Ina. I fell in love with metal art on that day and I knew I had to learn how to do it. One day while strolling through a shopping centre I saw a sign on the notice board advertising classes in hand-embossed metal art. I excitedly copied down the information and called the artist a Kenyan Asian lady called Taruna. I was her first African student. I discovered that apparently embossed metal art is an ancient tradition in India. From her I learned how to emboss and create images on metal. However, I never did discover what we used to paint the metal because she didn't tell me and she got all her supplies in India. So I spent many years trying to find paint which I could use on the metal (last year after "Googling" I finally discovered it was gold rust liquid). But in between I made a few fascinating discoveries of my own. So I don't use rust liquid to paint my metal art pieces and I have since developed my own metal art techniques. These are images of the first art piece I sold and of one of the new art forms I developed (handmade metal art cards) which are miniature 4 by 4 inch metal art pieces in a card format.
I also started out with a love for oil pastels so once in a while I use those and much as I love the look of oil paint I simply don't have the patience to use it anymore. Just the other day I discovered another new technique using acrylic paints. As they say "Necessity is the mother of invention," I would like to paraphrase that to, "Necessity is the mother of creation." Last week while working on a painting for my sister Laura which is based on my original "Shadows of Doubt," art piece I realized what a long way I have come as an artist. I have developed a variety of art techniques and people who are familiar with my earlier work have acknowledged my growth and best of all I have actually received commissions and praise from people other than my family members :-). Don't get me wrong, I appreciate my family's support especially because many of my family members have great taste in art but the praise of strangers and their art purchases really do make me think at least I can lay claim to been an artist.
I have also sold some of my art gifts on Zazzle and best of all I have actually sold some of my poetry! Now that I consider an accomplishment because poetry is not easy to sell. So I decided that I really must do a blog post celebrating my evolution as an artist and strangely enough when I checked the date I started this blog it was almost two years ago in June 2009. So hoorah for me and thank-you to all of the people who have supported my creative journey over the years. Here's to what I hope will be many more fruitful, creative years!
Shadows of Doubt: Oil Pastel and Pencil Drawing by Injete
In December 2004 my sister Atsango and I were doing Christmas shopping at the museum art gallery and we came across two beautiful metal art pieces, she bought one for herself and one for my brother Solomon and his wife Ina. I fell in love with metal art on that day and I knew I had to learn how to do it. One day while strolling through a shopping centre I saw a sign on the notice board advertising classes in hand-embossed metal art. I excitedly copied down the information and called the artist a Kenyan Asian lady called Taruna. I was her first African student. I discovered that apparently embossed metal art is an ancient tradition in India. From her I learned how to emboss and create images on metal. However, I never did discover what we used to paint the metal because she didn't tell me and she got all her supplies in India. So I spent many years trying to find paint which I could use on the metal (last year after "Googling" I finally discovered it was gold rust liquid). But in between I made a few fascinating discoveries of my own. So I don't use rust liquid to paint my metal art pieces and I have since developed my own metal art techniques. These are images of the first art piece I sold and of one of the new art forms I developed (handmade metal art cards) which are miniature 4 by 4 inch metal art pieces in a card format.
Two Mothers/Confusion: Metal Oil Painting by Injete
Sax Player: Handmade Metal Art Card by Injete
I also started out with a love for oil pastels so once in a while I use those and much as I love the look of oil paint I simply don't have the patience to use it anymore. Just the other day I discovered another new technique using acrylic paints. As they say "Necessity is the mother of invention," I would like to paraphrase that to, "Necessity is the mother of creation." Last week while working on a painting for my sister Laura which is based on my original "Shadows of Doubt," art piece I realized what a long way I have come as an artist. I have developed a variety of art techniques and people who are familiar with my earlier work have acknowledged my growth and best of all I have actually received commissions and praise from people other than my family members :-). Don't get me wrong, I appreciate my family's support especially because many of my family members have great taste in art but the praise of strangers and their art purchases really do make me think at least I can lay claim to been an artist.
Buy Art Prints by Injete at FineArtAmerica.com
I have also sold some of my art gifts on Zazzle and best of all I have actually sold some of my poetry! Now that I consider an accomplishment because poetry is not easy to sell. So I decided that I really must do a blog post celebrating my evolution as an artist and strangely enough when I checked the date I started this blog it was almost two years ago in June 2009. So hoorah for me and thank-you to all of the people who have supported my creative journey over the years. Here's to what I hope will be many more fruitful, creative years!
Art Gifts by Injete, June and July 2011
Of late I have been extremely busy trading currencies and I have neglected my creative pursuits. My muse kept calling and since my fabulous younger sister Sandra was visiting from the States, I decided to do an art piece for her and for my other sister, Laura and brother in law, Ed. At the same time a friend of mine commissioned an art piece for one of her work colleagues, I had promised a family friend a wedding art gift and in the midst of all that I got a request from another friend to do a book cover (the original piece didn't work for him so I ended up sending him my sister's piece to use as a cover). So I wound up with a whirlwind of creative projects in June and July (I guess my muse decided to hammer me on the head since I kept ignoring her). Here are the fruits of my labour. I am quite pleased with my evolution as an artist and all the recipients loved their art pieces. It has been a busy but fruitful period. My goals for August are finding some balance, spending less time on currency trading and re-allocating time to my creative and online ventures.
Laura's Field of Dreams I: Abstract Art Women's Paintings by Injete
Sandra's Thinking Woman: Abstract Metal Art Painting by Injete
Vivian's African Dancers: African Art, Women Paintings by Injete
Janet and Jeremy's Wedding Gift: African Metal Art by Injete
Electric Blue, Guitar Man: Abstract Metal Art Painting by Injete
Laura's Field of Dreams II: Abstract Art Women's Paintings by Injete
Saturday, January 1, 2011
African Women: Proverbs, Poetry and Art
In keeping with the spirit of the New Year I decided to go back to my roots for some words of wisdom. Here are some African proverbs , poetry and art about women, friendship and motherhood.
African Friendship Quotes
1. The friends of our friends are our friends. - Congo
2. A friend is someone you share the path with. - African proverb
3. To be without a friend is to be poor indeed. - Tanzania
4. Because friendship is pleasant, we partake of our friend's entertainment; not because we have not enough to eat in our own house. - African proverb
5. Hold a true friend with both hands. - African proverb
6. A friend is someone you share the path with. - African proverb
7. Show me your friend and I will show you your character. - African proverb
8. Sorrow is like a precious treasure, shown only to friends. - African proverb
9. Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. - African proverb
10. Between true friends even water drunk together is sweet enough. - African proverb
11. A small house will hold a hundred friends. - African proverb
12. A close friend can become a close enemy. - African proverb
13. Bad friends will prevent you from having good friends. - Gabon
African Mother Quotes
1. The good mother knows what her children will eat. - Akan Proverb
2. Parents give birth to the body of their children, but not always to their characters. - Ganda Proverb
3. Only a mother would carry the child that bites. - Nigerian Proverb
4. Even though the baby monkey appears so ugly it's mother loves it anyway. - African proverb
5. The mother hen does not break its own eggs. - Swahili Saying, Eastern Africa
6. He that has never traveled thinks that his mother is the only good cook in the world. - Kenya
7. Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother. - African proverb
8. A child does not laugh at the ugliness of his mother. - African proverb
9. A mother cannot give birth to something bigger than herself. - African Proverb
10. Give birth to children and you will be pregnant with worries. - Namibian Proverb
African Women Quotes
1. If men swear that they want to harm you when you are asleep, you can go to sleep. If women say so, stay awake. - African proverb
2. A woman can hide her love for 40 years, but her disgust and anger not for one day. - Arab Proverb
3. If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family (nation)." - Ghana
4. A home without a woman is like a barn without cattle. - African proverb
5. An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. - African proverb
6. A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband is the fence around it. - Ghana
7. You are beautiful, but learn to work, for you cannot eat your beauty. - Congolese
8. Do not desire a woman with beautiful breasts, if you have no money. - South African
On the way to the river
African Womens' Poetry by Injete Chesoni
On the way to the river
We stop and catch up
On the latest village gossip
Two sisters, two girlfriends having a chat
We talk of Amadou
And how he has married wife number two
And of Seydou
And how he flew into a rage over
His wife Paige
And her horrendous cooking
He is now thinking about
kicking her out
All over cooking
We chuckle
Maybe we will give her a lesson or two
On how to prepare a meal for two
That’s sure to please and appease her man
Into letting her stay
If she wants to that is
We chat about Mama Lucy
And her cheating ways
Yesterday she was caught
In Chief Malay’s
Boat
In a compromising position
We whisper and blush
At the thought
Wishing we were as daring and free as she
But as for us
We are tied up by the chains of domesticity
And we must return to our chores
Of fetching water
And washing clothes
And all those other never-ending tasks
The daily life of a wife
Interrupted for a moment
As we live other people's lives
In our daily gossip on the way to the river
African Friendship Quotes
1. The friends of our friends are our friends. - Congo
2. A friend is someone you share the path with. - African proverb
3. To be without a friend is to be poor indeed. - Tanzania
4. Because friendship is pleasant, we partake of our friend's entertainment; not because we have not enough to eat in our own house. - African proverb
5. Hold a true friend with both hands. - African proverb
6. A friend is someone you share the path with. - African proverb
7. Show me your friend and I will show you your character. - African proverb
8. Sorrow is like a precious treasure, shown only to friends. - African proverb
9. Return to old watering holes for more than water; friends and dreams are there to meet you. - African proverb
10. Between true friends even water drunk together is sweet enough. - African proverb
11. A small house will hold a hundred friends. - African proverb
12. A close friend can become a close enemy. - African proverb
13. Bad friends will prevent you from having good friends. - Gabon
African Mother Quotes
1. The good mother knows what her children will eat. - Akan Proverb
2. Parents give birth to the body of their children, but not always to their characters. - Ganda Proverb
3. Only a mother would carry the child that bites. - Nigerian Proverb
4. Even though the baby monkey appears so ugly it's mother loves it anyway. - African proverb
5. The mother hen does not break its own eggs. - Swahili Saying, Eastern Africa
6. He that has never traveled thinks that his mother is the only good cook in the world. - Kenya
7. Every beetle is a gazelle in the eyes of its mother. - African proverb
8. A child does not laugh at the ugliness of his mother. - African proverb
9. A mother cannot give birth to something bigger than herself. - African Proverb
10. Give birth to children and you will be pregnant with worries. - Namibian Proverb
Sunset Dreams $150 (Free Shipping)
Media: Oil Paint on Metal
(8.1
x 11.75 inches)
African Women Quotes
1. If men swear that they want to harm you when you are asleep, you can go to sleep. If women say so, stay awake. - African proverb
2. A woman can hide her love for 40 years, but her disgust and anger not for one day. - Arab Proverb
3. If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family (nation)." - Ghana
4. A home without a woman is like a barn without cattle. - African proverb
5. An old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in a proverb. - African proverb
6. A woman is a flower in a garden; her husband is the fence around it. - Ghana
7. You are beautiful, but learn to work, for you cannot eat your beauty. - Congolese
8. Do not desire a woman with beautiful breasts, if you have no money. - South African
Friends On the Way to the River: $125
Media: Oil Paint on Metal (9.25 x 13 inches)
Framed and Ready to Hang.
Media: Oil Paint on Metal (9.25 x 13 inches)
Framed and Ready to Hang.
On the way to the river
On the way to the river
We stop and catch up
On the latest village gossip
Two sisters, two girlfriends having a chat
We talk of Amadou
And how he has married wife number two
And of Seydou
And how he flew into a rage over
His wife Paige
And her horrendous cooking
He is now thinking about
kicking her out
All over cooking
We chuckle
Maybe we will give her a lesson or two
On how to prepare a meal for two
That’s sure to please and appease her man
Into letting her stay
If she wants to that is
We chat about Mama Lucy
And her cheating ways
Yesterday she was caught
In Chief Malay’s
Boat
In a compromising position
We whisper and blush
At the thought
Wishing we were as daring and free as she
But as for us
We are tied up by the chains of domesticity
And we must return to our chores
Of fetching water
And washing clothes
And all those other never-ending tasks
The daily life of a wife
Interrupted for a moment
As we live other people's lives
In our daily gossip on the way to the river
Posing: Metal Wall Art Nude Painting by Injete
Acrylic Paint on Metal (22 x 25.5 inches Framed with Mat)
Price: $350 (Free Shipping)
Price: $350 (Free Shipping)
Monday, December 14, 2009
African Art and Women's Art Pieces
These are art pieces from my latest African art collection and art work that I plan on using for an upcoming poetry book project. All of these are original metal art paintings that can be purchased by sending an email to minjete@gmail.com. Please include the title of the art piece that you are interested in and your name and shipping address. These art pieces will also be available as art prints, art cards and art gifts.
Circle of Sisters I: African Art Painting, Women's Art
Original Acrylic Metal Painting (4x6"): $50
Click here to Buy African Cards and Kwanzaa Cards
Circle of Sisters II: African Art Painting, Women's Art
Original Acrylic Metal Painting (6x8"): $65
Circle of Sisters III: African Painting, Sisters and Friends Art
Original Acrylic Metal Painting (4x6"): SOLD
Circle of Sisters I: African Art Painting, Women's ArtOriginal Acrylic Metal Painting (4x6"): $50
Click here to Buy African Cards and Kwanzaa Cards
Circle of Sisters II: African Art Painting, Women's ArtOriginal Acrylic Metal Painting (6x8"): $65
Circle of Sisters III: African Painting, Sisters and Friends Art
Original Acrylic Metal Painting (8x6"): SOLD
Seeds of Life: Mother and Child Art, Sisters Art
Original Acrylic Metal Painting (5x9"): SOLD
Gossip: African Painting, Sisters and Friends Art
Original Acrylic Metal Painting (5x7"): SOLD
Three Pots: African Art Painting, Metal Wall Art
Original Acrylic Metal Painting (8 x7.3"): SOLD
Seeds of Life: Mother and Child Art, Sisters ArtOriginal Acrylic Metal Painting (5x9"): SOLD
Gossip: African Painting, Sisters and Friends ArtOriginal Acrylic Metal Painting (5x7"): SOLD
Friends On the Way to the River: $200
Media: Oil Paint on Metal (9.25 x 13 inches)
Framed and Ready to Hang.
Media: Oil Paint on Metal (9.25 x 13 inches)
Framed and Ready to Hang.
Three Pots: African Art Painting, Metal Wall ArtOriginal Acrylic Metal Painting (8 x7.3"): SOLD
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