Monday, September 1, 2008

olawunmi banjo.

I picked today to talk about my friend Lawunnmi.






Lawunmi is an artist, in my opinion, a very good one. I admire her, her 'saneness' and her talent. Her's is a long long story that I think I don't have any business sharing here in blogville. But no one I know could have gone through life Lawunmi's way and still find a way to put a charming smile on her face.She is strong;with will power and emotion, I pray to God for her kind of strength.

Lawunmi does some still life paintings that I think are mighty fine, here are some of them:











And my favourite one here is a picture of her godmother when she was a little child here:










Here is Brad Pitt:





Jada Pinkett:






Shania Twain:







Some of her abstract paintings are also real cool, I'll start with my favourite one here:


wait till you find out what it means.lol!

And then there's this one as well:






and some others:
















Olawunmi Banjo attended the Aina Onabolu modern Art school In Lagos Nigeria. She is currently a member of the African Artist Foundation (AAF http://www.africanartists.org/ ) where she is the premier Artist.

In her own words...

"My view of Art is the creative ability to define the beauty and existence of life, which words cannot explain. My main mentor (God) has been the intelligent designer and has inspired me to be creative in my own special way."

"Inspiration is the soul of real Art, and my inspiration revolves around Nature and Humans. It's very inspiring to watch nature and humans exhibiting beautiful and creative designs. My style is my attitude, which I represent in my art. The beauty of nature and beings has helped me to paint realistically."

"Realism helps me to appreciate the world, and most especially Gods work. Art helps us to understand, appreciate and interpret the essential elements of life. I have vast inspiration and I'm still developing. Imagination is not just the ability of man to form what his minds eye projects. Imagination should be reinforced by meanings and messages. My Imagination connects me to the world of surrealism. My Surreal works are messages to make people understand that there is more to this world than meets the eye."

"With help, inspiration and imagination, life can be more meaningful and handled pleasantly with soft hands. My moods are primarily dictated by African traditions and cultures. Bright colors in my paintings compliment my imagination. I am inspired to inspire people and make them appreciate the beauty of life through art. I love to see people express amazement at the unveiling of my work. I want to be remembered for the patience and passion that I give to deliver messages through my paintings."

Olawunmi Banjo


You can check out Lawunmi's website here


Her works are on exhibition and if you're an art person you might want to check them out if you missed the ones at Expo and Muson Centres a while ago (she almost missed these exhibitions bdw, because the lady in charge wouldn't put her on it for her lack of a degree or any kind of formal education, thank God for the power of persuasion. Lawunmi was the first person to sell a painting that day o!). Will post the dates soon so y'all in Lagos can go and check her stuff out.


If you are in America and are interested Lawunmi's are, contact her agent/marketer Carl Jackson here:
Bowling Green, OH 43402
ph: 419-807-8762
olbanportraits@olbanarts.com.




I'll continue my old Laiman gist later, I need serious help.

10 comments:

Lady said...

I AINT EVEN FINISHED READING...BUT IF ALL THE PICS I SEE WERE MADE BY UR FRIEND THEN.........wooooooooooowwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!! okay lemme go finish!

Lady said...

OH WOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A TALENTED SISTA!!!!!!!!!1 MEHNN!!!!! AM PROUD!!!!!
P.S:XOXO

Anonymous said...

wow she reaally is good..dang!

supply us with her exhibition details sharply abeg!

poeticallytinted said...

Wow, she's good. I especially like the first one in the ones you labelled 'and some others'. really cool. Went to her website and I am even more impressed. I wonder how expensive she is (wink)

Buttercup said...

gosh, see talent!!! she really is blessed..

aloted said...

wow..this ur friend should win Nigeria got talent! This is wat i call talent...wow!

wellsbaba said...

ur blog is wonderful4me...I lyk ds post loads....lemme read it again...

Parakeet said...

Am speechless!

Sisem E. Naidem said...

Ok, I'm a critic though I'm not really versed in art but... I took a serious look at the paintings again and somehow I think your friend should develop in the area of reproducing skin tones. Looks to me like she lets her passion take over while drawing the skin and gives it too much of a flowy feel like water. Some might consider the effect beautiful but I think it somehow gives the potraits a different feel from the pictures they were painted from. The Brad Pitt and Jada Pinkett pixes refer.
OK, I don't even know what I'm saying.
Shutting up... Your friend is GREAT, period!
PS: Like the abstracts though. What does that butterfly thingy one represent? And the idea of fetching water to put back into a container in the same river was divinely inspired no doubt.

Dee said...

This is a good example of GREAT TALENT. As a lover of art, I'd say she is VERY GOOD! She is blessed!