The Pain in Painting (Artist Statement)

Painting has not always been a bed of roses. Being an artist comes with some sacrifices. Some of us (artist) refuse to wake up from our dreams, to the point that the world think about us as insane (having our own reality). It is a sorry sight when ‘imagination’ conquers a person to the point that it becomes ‘delusion’. I have reached the point where I ask myself; why am I incessantly connected to something that cannot be defined (art)?


Thanks for reading through.

Ife'ka Terry
www.ifekaterry.com



FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/art.african

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Recently Lost My Phone

The lost of my phone slowed me down a bit but I bounced back. Yep, it (my phone which I often use to blog) was stolen.


It time to go and sleep. I would resume blogging tomorrow. Cheers!


Ife'ka Terry
www.ifekaterry.com



www.facebook.com/art.african
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.

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What to do when you can not paint (tip)

http://www.ifeka.blogspot.com/2009/05/pharaoh-ess.html














'If you hear a voice within you say; "you cannot paint", then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced' ~ Vincent Van Gogh

I trying to paint after a very long time lol, I hope I don't spend way too much time on it (time is money, that is why we spend it).

© Ife'ka Terry
http://ifekaterry.com

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Have You Ever Seen A Flying Peacock? {real Photo & abtract painting}

Not everyone knows that a peacock can fly.

Above, you can see a photograph I took at the back of my fathers house. It is a photo of a peacock before and during takeoff. I took the photograph this year whereas the abstract painting was done three (3) years agom

The abstract painting: 'ROSE PEACOCK' was made with three (3) colors to look like both a rose and a flying peacock (like the peacock in the above photograph). The wings of the painting are up-ward while those of the picture are down-wards. It was painted in 2008 (based on the colors of a survey at my formal website), it size is 27x36inches (oil on canvas). Someone suggested the name it "An Abstract Caricature of a Peacock" but I prefer the title: ROSE PEACOCK beacause it's shorter.

Thanks you for reading through I remain, Ife'ka Terry. http://ifekaterry.com


TWITTER: http://twitter.com/tugis_art
FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/ifekaterry.art

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Coming in August

I am trying to re-organize myself and even re-invent my art and I. I am working on some new artworks and would upload them very soon...

Also coming in September, are PRINTS. I have found the right place for that and it is RedBubble! I want to make sure I do it the right way the first time.

Anyway, I would be changing the prizes of my works (to encourage the buying of prints).

Ife’ka Terry.

http://www.ifekaterry.com/

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Pharaoh-ess

I started this artwork November 17, 2008. After four (4) days of painting, I totally lost my inspiration. I didn’t know what to do next, when to continue and, I lost my desire to paint. So I covered the painting with cloth (I live in Northern Nigeria and it is very dusty and sandy until the rains comes).

The idea behind the painting is to make an image of an African girl as a female-king and not a queen (who is just the wife of a king). I didn’t want to use gold or extreme facial makeup. . . . . . In high school I made a painting of a black pharaoh, so I wanted to make the cloth on her head to look like what a Pharaoh would put on his head. The cloth on her head is from a Yoruba traditional cloth called ‘Ashokay’ (Yoruba people are found in the western part of Nigeria).

Well, around that March-April period, I saw a bulletin from one of my MySpace friend titled something like; ‘Yoruba language has some similarity to that of ancient Egypt’ unfortunately, I couldn’t see the content of that bulletin because it was a video (and my internet connection is too slow to play YouTube videos).

The person that sent the bulleting usually sent these types of very educative and interesting bulleting. Sometimes (especially last year) the topic are sarcastic and I misunderstood there meaning (at first).

Anyway, I re-started the painting again and finished it with even more passion. It took a total of over 56 hours to finished this painting (over 5 months break because of dried up inspiration).

Procrastination? NO! NO!!



Thank you.



Ife’ka Terry
http://www.ifekaterry.com/

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Sip Coka-cola

An Original watercolor painting on card board.

For Sale at http://www.freeman.boundlessgallery.com/

Thanks

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Orange Color like Okro

An Original watercolor on card board. 4.0 x 3.7" in a 8x10" frame In where I live, Oranges are either green or yellow in color. When I was been taught the names of colors, I asked the teacher why Orange-colors were called Orange-color and, he did not know the right answer to give me. In my mind I said; teacher! Do not teach me nonsense!. . . . . It was later in life that I saw a picture in a book of a foreign orange and it was Orange-color. Then it made sense to me..... Okro is a vegi that is used to make soup.


For sale at http://www.freeman.boundlessgallery.com/

Thank You

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Orange and egg

An Original watercolor on card board. 4.8 x 4.9inchs in a 8x10inch frame Please check out a related work called Orange-color-like-okro.

For sale at www.freeman.boundlessgallery.com

Thank You.

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Mallam

An Original watercolor on card board. 8.0 x 6.3 inch in a 10x8inch frame.... Mallam is a title given to a male in the Hausa Language (more like Mister (Mr.)). Hausa is a language spoken by more PEOPLE on the continent of Africa than any other native language (including Swahili)

For sale at http://www.freeman.boundlessgallery.com/

Thank You

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Deep Sees

An Original Oil paint on Card-board... Accompanied by an Aluminum Frame (silver color) custom made..... Looking for the seed within. Spending a lifetime searching for the prophetic refuge. This beautiful Artwork is depicting that vision, that sweet secrete desire... Thank You.

For sale at http://www.freeman.boundlessgallery.com/

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Anew, The First Painting I made in 3 Years

Hello, Let me give a profile of myself.

I am Ife’ka Terry. I live in Northern-Nigeria where I started my career making portraits. Over the years, I have come to be known for my drawings, watercolor paintings and collages. My dad introduced me to a man I only know as ‘Old Ohaness’ who showed me a few ways to improve my drawing. That is were I acquired the skills I have in drawing and I later develop my skill through practices. My trademark watercolor and collage are both self taught. I was out of practice from 2004 – 2007 because of some personal issues (although I made a few artworks during 2004 and 2005 but I made non in 2007). Above is an artwork I made in April 2008 called ‘Anew’.

A new way of doing things, focused and motivated. That is why the image has only one ears for listening and only the right eyes for seeing. Self-discipline to be careful of what enters the mind to a stage were, not even the temptations of the world could be of distraction. That is why the world is behind. The heart is missing because it has been intentionally submitted to the God...

The Original artwork is available for sale at

http://www.freeman.boundlessgallery.com/

Thanks

Ife’ka Terry.

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Colonization and the Colours of His Majesty; Emperor Haile Selassie I

At the horn of Africa there is a country called Ethiopia. Some say this is the only land in Africa that was never colonized. Emperor Haile Selassie was a direct descendant of the Biblical king Solomon and Queen of Sheba[I Kings Chapter 10, Verses 1] [II Chronicles Chapter 9, Verses 1]. She tried to test his divine Wisdom but Solomon (a perverted king) ended up using his wisdom to take advantage of her. . .

The story goes that the Queen of Sheba begged Solomon not to touch her and Solomon agreed under the condition that she would not touch anything in his palace. It was an oath of some sort. You see, Her Majesty was just coming from a long journey and later felt testy. She asked her Host (king Solomon) to please give her water to drink and he refused reminding her of the oath saying that she would have to drink from his cup. Anyway; to cut long story short, she later freed him of the oath and he did the same. She had her water and he had his way and the result was that she became pregnant and gave him a son. Twelve generation later; Emperor Haile SelassieI was born. I don’t really know much about His Majesty so I would live that alone. Anyway; His real name was Ras Tafari M. Does it sound familiar? Yeah! The God of the Rastafarian. I love Rasta’s but I don’t worship Selassie nevertheless, I still respect His Majesty (He was very intelligent and was one of the greatest speakers that ever lived). And as the scriptures says; ‘Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. For God, Honour the Emperor’ [I Peter Chapter 2 Verses 6-7]



Above is a photo of three of my Oil paintings called Selassia Tri(20.0x17.5 inches) May 2008. I would try to explain the symbolism of the colors starting from your left to right:

Africa SELASSIA TRI (African Version): The symbolic colors of Red (blood), Green ( land), Yellow (gold), Black (people). When put together, it looks militant and resolute...

Unity SELASSIA TRI (Unity Version): Black and White. As Emperor Haile Selassie said, 'we must overcome our petty prejudices, even if the weight of history is heavy, owing our ultimate dedication or allegiance not to any nation or country, but to our fellow men within the human community and become member of a new race, the true race: the human race.'
West SELASSIA TRI (Western Version): Red, White and Blue are the colors found in the French, Great Britain, and American flags. These nation and Potugal colonized Africa. Red, White, and Blue are found in the costume of Superman and one of these nation is the world superpower. If you look closely, you would discover that the image kind of looks like Santa Claus... That is how some Africans see these nations (as father Christmas and his aid).

Ethiopia is the only African country that was not colonized

The Artwork is for sale at:

http://www.freeman.boundlessgallery.com/

Thanks

Ife’ka Terry.

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