Meet The Artist.
Artwork Shared: Peaceful Negotiation.
Portfolio.
It illustrates happiness from facing tough times, this piece has a woman enjoying her lunch she looks happy from looking at her smile which is really catching, and also her eyes also can tell her emotion as well. The whole world currently has been going through inflation and it’s been hard even to survive these tough times. This piece was painted at a time when at least the price of maize which is the staple food in our country had gone down causing a relief among many Kenyans, hence I saw the preferred title to be Economic Relief.
It illustrates a Tailoress at her place of work, the reference picture used was taken carefully and it tells a lot of stories when you look at the face of the woman, she is really determined to design, and she also pours her heart out and also loves it when she’s working on different designs. This is also a livelihood of many women and also men in Kenya this is how they make their living and feed their families.
In the painting it’s a Tailoress working on her designs and also mending clothes for her clients, this painting was inspired by the women who work hard to make enough to get through the day. When we look at this painting, she is working focusing on the work she’s doing but still deep in thought at the same time trying to meet targets and deadlines and also figure out life at the same time. The painting inspires me a lot to do what you like cause that’s where your heart is at peace.
This painting is the fourth of my series ‘Figures of Emotion’ and its titled Peace wanted alive, this painting was painted at a very important time in our country during the general election period and it’s aimed at campaigning or championing for peace.
Scene 2 from the Nairobi city series
Acrylic on canvas
Size 40 cm square
Acrylic on canvas
Size 70cm by 60cm
Biography.
My name is John Maina, reside in Thika but grew up in Nairobi, Eastlands. While in primary school that’s where my passion for art began. Although we never had art classes, I was just interested in creating art a lot. During that time, some of my friends said I was doing a nice job and that encouraged me a lot. I kept creating but when I joined high school, I was never interested in doing art. This is because I never drew anything on paper. That went on until I completed my high school time. And then joined college where I pursued a diploma in mechanical engineering. But in my second year of schooling, that’s where my interest in creating came back and took over and from now on, I’ve been creating ever since.
Statement.
It has been an exciting journey for me personally. Mostly I like to create from what surrounds me and the normal lives of people, how they interact with each other daily, and try to put that on canvas.
