Tag: abstract landscapes

Artistic Inspiration

News from my world of Art, and it was wonderful to discover that my painting, ‘Rural Market’, won an Honourable Mention Award in the 2023 Teravarna Art Competition.

Rural Market; by Susie Williamson

This piece is from my collection of African inspired landscapes depicted in my Abstract Landscapes blog – click here. These pieces are painted from memory, thought, feeling… work motivated quite simply to remember friends from a time I lived and worked on the continent in 1999 into early 2000s, including three years in South Africa. Those friendships inspired the following poetic conversation…

Abesifazane base-Afrika

You were meant to be guardians of your homeland…

Not suffer to be stifled by cruel apartheid,

The greed, the violence, the pillage and rape,

Of your gifted ancestral lands.

*

You were meant to sing the chorus of your homeland…

You were not meant to face your name replaced,

Your identity scarred by language stripped,

Your songs and prayers denied.

*

You were meant to know freedom in your stride…

You were not meant to suffer the indignity of poverty,

To see with clouded eyes from your tin roofed shack,

As the lights flicker off.

*

You were meant to sow fertile soil of Africa…

You were not meant to strain on mountainous terrain,

Rock littered earth, soil too thin to harvest,

Lingering memories of forced evictions.

*

You were meant to be proud of your ancestral lands…

Not suffer shame-filled hungry pangs,

Belly empty, mouth watering, looking down over vast fields of crops,

Where your homes once stood.

*

You were meant to carve the future for your children…

Not be shackled to a fate of criminal debt,

While you walk cracked earth, parched droughts, breathing fumes,

Of industries of the rich.

*

You were meant to know peace in Africa’s sun…

You were not meant to know the violence of desolation,

Cool breath of fear, as gunshots chime through the midnight hour,

And a distant scream rings.

*

You were meant to smear red earth and white clay on your skin…

Your blood was not meant to stain that earth,

These were not meant to be your stories,

You are the keeper of your stories,

And you sing with heads held back and mouths wide, as your notes carry far and wide, in a tune…

POWERFUL ENOUGH TO SWAY THE MOUNTAIN.

I still sway in the harmony of your song, and feel the tremors of the steps you take,

Your words remain on the tip of my tongue, my pen is poised with the rise and fall of your name,

My heart swells with your fears, your hopes and your dreams…

But…

…you are the keeper of your story,

While my brush sweeps on canvas to house memories of you,

Shared times we aspired and I cherish your smile…

Sicula ngesizulu,

Abesifazane base-Afrika,

Ekhaya e-Afrika,

Iningizimu Afrika,

Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika.

#IWD2021 Abstract Landscapes

March 2021 has been a busy month. Alongside the publication of my new novel, I have also been involved in an art exhibit to celebrate International Women’s Day 2021: a month-long, virtual event hosted by the Menduina Schneider Art Gallery in Los Angeles.

Click here to view my video entry.

Considering which piece to enter from my collection of acrylics on canvas, I was drawn to the African landscapes and waterscapes.

Lagoon – (Actual size 50x50cms)

Beach Life – (Actual size 50x50cms)

Trading Bays – (Actual size 50x50cms)

From my time spent living and working in the Sudan and South Africa in the late 1990s/early 2000s, thoughts of the women who were my friends, colleagues, students and teachers, are never far away. I continue to paint these thoughts, memories and experiences into African landscapes and waterscapes, colourful panoramic views to pay tribute to these women.

Women’s Work – (Actual size 100x50cms)

          

The following collection entitled, Perspectives, was inspired by daily life in South Africa, in particular from the perspective of hawkers and the long distances travelled to sell their wares.

Perspectives Collection

Home – (Actual size 50x50cms)

Long Walk – (Actual Size 50x50cms)

At Market – (Actual size 50x50cms)

The work also considers the connection between people and land, a connection which is increasingly lost in a complex commercial world. The following piece, Desert Life, was the piece selected for the exhibit.

Desert Life – (Actual size 120x30cms)

          

All of my African views seek to highlight the rich colours of Africa. In Desert Life, the colours were also inspired by the symbiotic relationship between wildlife and land, in particular between flamingos and their habitat. I think of it as a painting that celebrates communities living in close harmony with the surrounding natural world.

The gallery stated that this piece was selected for its palette:

“When you think about the desert, you imagine something barren. You don’t imagine something this beautiful. It is filled with colours. Why? It could be the desert or it could be the life spent by yourself, filled with memories, with dreams, with different roads you have taken, and the ones still waiting for you. Are those trees and water there, or are they in the imagination of the woman that is carrying a basket? Are these her friends? The fact that Susie has travelled to these places, the insight she has, the work is tender and poignant.”

To view the live gallery video, click here.

To view more art on my instagram page, click here.

Abstract Landscapes

A question came up a while ago, at a local book club: how important is place in a story? For me, as a writer, it’s essential. It’s the first heartbeat that begins the planning process. It’s the atmosphere you will be ensconced in as a reader, and the writer. It’s the place that will define the rules, the culture, the day to day life. It’s the thing that sparks my imagination the most.

Whilst in recovery from a recent illness, I’ve had more time to read. Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorofor, and Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adenyemi, are now on my list of firm favourites. Both works of fantasy, both Nigerian-American authors, the sights and sounds of Nigeria ooze colour from the pages.

I’ve talked before about how various African landscapes influenced place and culture in Return of the Mantra. It’s a subject I also incorporated into a recent guest blog I did. Click here. Books 2 and 3 venture further into the unknown world of creativity. Awaiting the edits of Book 2, revisiting the first draft of Book 3, I’m reminded of the importance of place, the importance of digging deep for those details that will bring to life a land of my imagination. I’m excited for these new lands that I can see so clearly.

Place also features in my painting life, in the form of abstract landscapes, mostly African inspired.

At Market:

Home:

Long Walk:

These three pieces are from a collection I call Perspectives, capturing snapshots of rural township life in South Africa. When I started this collection I decided on three pieces. Now it is finished, there may be more. As is so often the case, one thought generally sparks another…