R.W.K.

Rikki Wemega-Kwawu
I loved his colors and his ability to use abstracts. He uses pictoral and abstract themes, that draw the viewer to gaze and use his or her own imagination. He has no restrictions and to me, his work is inspiration becasue he has no professional schooling and is self taught. His work is complex and very detailed. The details represent African decor and i love the titles he has for each...because you are able to focus on the title which takes you to emotion or idea he wishes to portray.

K.A.

Kwardo Ari
When i saw this artist at, i was very touched bby his inspiration to paint. his childlike paintings are made to expose his attitude and views about society. he chooses to paint child like, especially since his name Ari means eyes. His name causes him to portray the world around as big,well aware eyes yet sincerity and the honesty of a young child. His inspiration to paint is also to promote and teach about socail injustice and abuse of power, while also showing small gestures can lead towards love. I love the colors of his painting and the childlike drawing.

J.C.

james Cudjoe
This artist is from Ghana, and paints to depict important memories he in visions while growing up. His use of bright colors exposes a bold vibe of the busy rushed life in an urban area. My two favorite pieces he made were done to pay homage to his hometown and mother. 'Human Life' has a busy life of a city, depicting the difficulties of surviving day to day from the profits at market. Just as in 'market Woman', J.C. paints to pay homage to his mother, who would everyday go to market to sell things in order to pay for his schooling. His painting captures the feelings of happiness and excitement after being successful at the market. If it had not been for his mother, J.C. would have never had such inspiration to paint such beauties.

K.N.

kobinu Nayarko
He painted a colorful and eye poping picture of fishmolded together in a wave motion. This painting stood out to me, simply for the fact that the artist loves to paint elements of the coastal area. This native who was raised by the coast, loves to depict the ocean and all the characteristics the coast symbolize in his village: source of food, wealth, adeventure, moral sancution, serenity, life, and inspiration. In Workshop II, K.N. uses the fish to represent recognition of the natural wonders of subaquatic world as expressions of divinity. I love the colors and how abstract the fish are positioned.

Balboa Park & Muesum of Man: Part II

On Sunday, my mom came down to visit me, and in order to enjoy our time together, i planned for the day to go down to the Healing Festival at Balboa Park. She had never been there before and i thought it would be really cool to show her around S.D. The previous times that i have gone to Balboa Park, it strongly reminded me of this similar park in Mexico City, where my mom used to take me, Chapultepec. It has a castle from the era when Napoleon invaded Mexico City. The castle is well kept and is surrounded by nature, as are the museums at Balboa Park. The museums here have a gorgeous exterior, which in my mind remind me of that park. Haha...so anyhow back to the story (lol).The Festival was really interesting because their was a bunch of booths set up with a bunch of organic and healthy foods and techniques on how to live a more 'earthly way' of living. The vibes i got there reminded me almost of a hippie manner of living life, just like they live in San Fransisco. My brother goes to Berkley and every time i go up there, i feel like everyone lives life like that since residents there are more liberal and take extreme measures to support their values. At the festival, the sounds of a children's drum circle could be heard while visitors stood in line for complementary messages and yoga lessons. Food was being sold, which again was all organic or ethnically versatile. After eating a veggie hot dog and grubbing on kettle corn, we sat by the stage to hear various artists and singers perform while along the side, gypsy-like girls danced passionately and fluently with hula hoops. Children and other girls joined in, looking like a bunch of Greek myth nymphs dancing and frolicking around in the outdoors. As the day got later, the vibe of the festival slowly converted to a reggae one, where a bunch of guys had dreadlocks and the sound of Rastafarian music took place. It was a very interesting experience that was concluded with a quick visit to the Museum of Man for my earth science class. While i was there, the museum had an exhibition with various art exhibitions. The idea of killing two birds with one stone was genius, having completed two tasks for two classes with one visit. Yes! =D

Balboa Park: Part I

On Saturday, i went to Balboa Park to support the walk/ event for the issue of Tibet and Dafur. It was a very intense presentation that began with a walk and concluded with survivors who shared their experiences. Along with their moving and eye-opening words, a performance was given by traditional Mexican natives who danced ancient rituals. Their dance was a symbol of unity and peace, hoping to unite all with insence, feathers, and images of the Virgin Mary. While all this took place, along the side of the center stage area, there was various tables that contained information about the situation in Tibet and the inhuman tragedties that are occuring there. There was a blanket open to the public to sign, it was white and symbolized the unity of all races and cultures who stand together to protest and stop the inhuman crulety.This event was very inspirational because i found it very moving...and found it very disturbing how no solution has been made to stop the injustice from continuing. There was one speaker who was a former Lost Boy from Darfur...his speech brought tears to my eyes as he describe the violence, starvation, devestation occuring...and his plea for all to remember this problem and to act fast to stop or do something about it! No pictures could be taken of him because he had familuy still in Darfur and if he was discovered talking about it, his family would be killed. Its times like this when you realize how fortunate you are and how the idea of others sufuriing for a pointless war is disgusting and how yet it still goes on....and how we HAVE to DO something.