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Posts Tagged Acrylic on paper

Acrylic on paper painting of Giraffes

Jan 19

Posted by Nkolika in Acrylic paintings, Botswana, Inspirational, Wildlife | 2 Comments

Acrylic painting of giraffe silhouettes by Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

Giraffe Silhouettes

20cm x 28cm

copyright Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

For some time now I’ve been having a lot of fun and deriving a lot of joy from painting wildlife. It definitely is influenced by where I have found myself………………….Botswana.  Botswana hasn’t been good to me in a lot of ways, but I have simply chosen to see the good sides of the place.  I keep saying I’m way too young to burden myself with thoughts that will not in anyway make me a better person or make me happy. The bottom line’s that I am too young to send myself to an early grave. Needless to say it is always very important to try and see the beautiful side of any where you find yourself.

Coming here opened a totally new chapter in my life. A chapter I was not in anyway ready for (can we ever be completely ready for what life throws at us?). But like a popular saying in my culture that says “a na awachi uwa ogodo”…………which means adorning life with beautiful ornaments no matter the circumstances, I decided a long time ago to keep my shoulders straight and walk with my head high at all times. Yeah, like the giraffes in the painting above. If I could get my neck to be that long I would definitely be making a statement to the world around me that I have simply chosen not to be deterred.

What is it that you’re going through now? Have things happened that have made your shoulders slouch and made you constantly afraid of looking the world in the eye? Brace up and know you’re not (never alone). Like giraffes who never walk with their heads low, may we all learn to stare down adversities and disappointments.

Everyone reaches a point in their life where they must either change or cease

Brett Whiteley

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Acrylic Still life painting

Jan 17

Posted by Nkolika in Acrylic paintings, Videos | No Comments

Acrylic Still life painting by Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

Apple on a table

Acrylic on paper

13.5cm x 21.5cm

SOLD

I have been listening to some classical pieces since yesterday. I had not listened to them for a while and I had totally forgotten how much peace I get from listening to them. Shubert’s Ave Maria always evokes a feeling in me that’s so deep that all I can do when I listen to it is cry. There are so many other versions of Ave Maria like Bach’s version but I love Schubert’s piece more. It’s a perfect piece to wake up to in the morning. It always calms the nerves and spreads peace in the atmosphere. For me it always brings to light the remarkable beginning of our salvation through the Virgin Mary’s humble acceptance of the will of God when angel Gabriel came to her with God’s message. How many of us are willing to totally abandon ourselves, our plans and dreams at God’s feet and humbly submit to His will. Even when we know that what He wants may not always be what we want for ourselves.

Charlotte Church singing Ave Maria

The day I found Charlotte Church‘s rendition of this beautiful piece, I was mesmerized. I got to know Charlotte through my mum (who’s also a soprano singer with a heavenly voice. And at 73yrs still sings beautifully). She came home one day from Glasgow with dozens of classical CDs (that’s how I accumulated so many of them) and she was so in love with Charlotte who was still a very small girl then. Now she’s all grown and I think her voice is still magical.

There are so many beautiful people with beautiful talents/gifts. Many people tell me I’m blessed because I’m very good at doing things with my hands/fingers. But I always feel I am no different from everyone else. That does not in anyway mean I don’t appreciate my talent neither does it mean I am not grateful to God. I strongly believe we all have something we are good at…………..something hidden away somewhere deep within us. All it needs is determination and self confidence on our side to build it up.

I hope you would reach deep inside you to discover your gifts and if you have, I encourage you to press on. Never give up…….one day you would get to that point where the world would discover your worth and appreciate your talent.

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Acrylic Seascape painting

Jan 16

Posted by Nkolika in Acrylic paintings, Botswana | 4 Comments

Acrylic Seascape painting by Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

Reflections in the Okavango river

Acrylic on paper

13.5cm x 21.5cm

SOLD

This is a seascape painting of a part of the Okavango river in Botswana, Southern Africa. I was struck by the beautiful reflections in the water and I could not resist the urge to capture it in paint. The Okavango region from where the river gets its name is a famous tourist destination in Botswana that is home to a wide variety of animals and wild life. It is painted with Acrylic on paper and framed with a mounting board ready to be inserted into a frame.

An artist needn’t be a clergyman or a churchwarden,but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men.

Vincent van Gogh

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Acrylic painting of an Elephant

Jan 12

Posted by Nkolika in Acrylic paintings, Botswana, Wildlife | 2 Comments

Elephant Silhouette

21cm x 28cm

Acrylic on paper

copyright Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

SOLD

This is a painting I did showing an Elephant making his way home as the sun sets in the Okavango delta of Botswana. It is done on paper and framed with a matt mounting board ready to be put on the wall or inserted into a frame.

The Okavango delta is the world’s largest inland delta. The waters of the Okavango Delta are subject to seasonal flooding, which begins about mid-summer in the north and six months later in the south (May/June). The water from the delta is evaporated relatively rapidly by the high temperatures, resulting in a cycle of cresting and dropping water in the south. Islands can disappear completely during the peak flood, then reappear at the end of the season.

The Okavango is home to a prosperity of wildlife and attracts thousands of visitors a year. On the mainland and among the islands in the delta, lions, elephants, hyenas, wild dog, buffalo, hippo and crocodiles congregate with a teeming variety of antelope and other smaller animals – warthog, mongoose, spotted genets, monkeys, bush babies and tree squirrels. The delta also includes over 400 species of birds.

Have you been to the Okavango delta? Be sure to take a trip to this wonderful place whenever you come around here. Or if you can’t why not get a hold of an original painting depicting life in the delta as the one above.

Sources:
Wikipedia
SA Places

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Challenges

Dec 30

Posted by Nkolika in Acrylic paintings, Inspirational | 8 Comments

Tomatoes-acrylic on paper painting

Tomatoes on a table

Acrylic on paper

13.5cm x 21.5cm

Date painted: 2008

copyright Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

For Sale

Still trying to get a hang on this new adventure of mine called “Blogging“. So many things to learn and to do all at the same time. I don’t know why everything in life has to entail a lot of hard work.

When I was setting up my art website from scratch…….I was excited when I discovered I didn’t need to pay anyone to do it for me since I could do it myself. The excitement soon wore off when I discovered it involved a lot of work. And getting used to all those web designing jargon (like html, cms, tags, css, wysiwyg) was not an easy feat at all. Then when I finally got it off the ground after weeks of sweating and frustration; I realized there was even more work ahead…………..getting it out there for everyone to see and getting people to visit.

At the end of the day I ask myself; is it really worth the while doing things by oneself or is it better paying someone else to do it? But yet again I can’t deny that there’s always a tremendous feeling of fulfillment that goes with learning things from scratch and challenging oneself. I think for me that is more important than saving the money that could have been used to pay someone else to do it (not that saving money is not important!!!). There’s nothing like looking at what you did with your hands and knowing that you did it YOURSELF…..no matter how it turned out.

When I tell people about my website I always feel a sense of pride when they tell me they liked it. I find it hard holding back the urge to tell them that I did it from scratch (of course with a free template)…………it somehow means more to me that they know that I did it myself. Is it being arrogant?

Each new challenge I willingly take up reminds me of other previous challenges which I took up and came out feeling accomplished. As the years go by the previous challenges seem little compared to what may be facing me now…….but are we not all quick to forget that back then the challenge seemed insurmountable as at now.

The greatest challenge I have ever taken up (and which I still battle with) is PAINTING. I remember those days in high school; it was never easy sitting in a class filled with only boys (whom we were made to believe as children…………were the only born artists!!!). But lo and behold I came out as the best fine art student. My fine art teacher used to call me a “photographer with a pencil”. All it took was hard work and confidence.

Then came University days, making out time to pursue my dreams on canvas even when I had tons of medical books to go through was something whenever I am asked how I did it…I am never able to answer. The secret I can say was just taking things easy. I painted when I could and when I couldn’t I wouldn’t force it. The most important thing was that the dream to be a good painter was there and I knew it was not going to go anywhere.

Today, as I go through other artists’ blogs I feel the same palpitations I used to feel in school during the fine art classes. It’s a feeling I know all too well. Whenever I make my way from one blog to the other; I am always struck by the beauty of their art and what they have achieved.

Though I am still a youngster in a lot of ways I can’t help but feel I still have a lot of grounds to cover and a lot more challenges to face. Someone might say that’s being greedy especially when you consider the fact that I’ve achieved what many of my peers haven’t (see my resume). But there are many of my peers who have achieved a lot more…….so either way you choose to look at it; there should never be an end to one’s hunger to reach further and higher than he/she has reached before. After all, is that not why we are here?

As we all face our own individual challenges may we continue to dream more and aim higher. And most importantly enjoy yourself every step of the way. Slowly but surely I will learn to blog better.

I am currently offering the painting above for free at the facebook marketplace .

Creativity takes courage.

Henri Matisse

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