Nthenya R - June 2020

“Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly
unconnected. ”

— William Plomer

Nthenya R. Acrylic Painting on 24”x 46” Canvas. Completed June 2020

This painting was based on a picture I took of Ruth Nthenya and my attempt at turning it into a painting. It was both a gift and a test of my ability.

A song that comes to mind is “Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley. In my mind, there’s a strong correlation between the art and the song’s lyrics.

“Preacher man, don’t tell me
Heaven is under the earth
I know you don’t know
What life is really worth
It’s not all that glitters is gold
’Alf the story has never been told
So now you see the light, eh
Stand up for your rights, come on

Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight
Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights
Get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight

Most people think
Great God will come from the skies
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high
But if you know what life is worth
You will look for yours on earth
And now you see the light…”

— Bob Marley

The Internal R - Remy's Painting

“When we engage in what we are naturally suited to do, our work takes on the quality of play, and it is play that stimulates creativity.”

— Linda Naiman

Remy and I are a team and he’s a creative bright young man. In the video below, he shares his painting, aptly named “Internal R.”

Mask is from Munyao.art. Check the current available masks here.

Munyao.art has Merchandise

““Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art.””

— Andy Warhol

It's exciting to see my art turning into cool designs on merchandise to include hand made embroidered masks, short & long sleeve t-shirts, hoodies and tank tops.

We also are building a partnership with Custom Ink to fundraise for JuzaAfrica.org work Empowering Youth in Africa.

Let us know what you think and check out additional creative design below:

Check out Empowered with a cool background made with Adobe Spark.

Painting Time-lapse of Matumaini (Hope)

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”

— Bob Ross

‘Matumaini’. Swahili Word for Hope.

This is my tribute to the struggle all over the world, with the juxtaposition that Africa is a gift to all. The hand signifies the ability to open up and give while showing much being taken.

I’ll blog on the experience and motivation later this year.

Thank you to all my friends and colleagues for the positive feedback. Glad to reconnect with so many of my friends. Art does bring us together.

Golden Baobab - May 2020

“Art takes nature as its model.”

— Aristotle

Golden Baobab. 24”x 36” Canvas. Completed May 2020

In my humble opinion, this painting turned out way better than I anticipated because one thing that worried me during sketching was how to show height of these majestic African trees. Growing up, whenever we drove to the Kenyan Coast, you’d see these magnificent, old and gorgeous trees all over. They are fascinating to see and I knew once the thought came to mind, that it had to be a great painting. I love it.

What song comes to mind when I look at this painting? Mighty Joshua’s “Clean Hands.” This song is simple and shares a positive message with a cool reggae beat.

Joshua is a friend who’s doing work to empower people in his community in Richmond, VA as well as the children of the Makindu Children’s Program in Kenya. Guess what type of trees you’ll find in and around Makindu? Yep… Baobabs’.

Magnificent Zebra - April 2020

“There’s no limit to how much you’ll know, depending how far beyond zebra you go.”

— Dr. Seuss

Magnificent Zebra. Acrylic Painting on a 24”x 36” Canvas. Completed April 2020

This is by far most of my friends’ favorite painting. It’s very cool in so many ways. The paint mix making up for white stripes was a mix I gambled with and had just enough to complete the entire painting. Did you notice the birdie on the Zebra? Nature is beautiful and this Zebra is magnificent. This painting also has the most offers on the table and is reserved.

What song comes to mind? Hmm…

The Salmon Dance by the Chemical Brothers. (Fish Pay Attention to the Moon)

I feel like this Zebra could walk out of the canvas, start a conversation with you and probably teach you how to dance.

Elephants Birdie - March 2020

““Everything you can imagine is real.” ”

— Pablo Picasso

Elephants Birdie. Completed March 2020. Painting on 24”x 36” Canvas

This painting was fun. The blue background stood for a few weeks and most people thought it was the actual painting. Makes me think that simpler background-like paintings will be something on future canvases. The birds are in and around the elephant symbolizing the presence on the ground and the sky. Love this painting.

What song comes to mind when I think look at this painting? Benny Benassi’s, “Come Fly With Me.”

“I’m glidin’ in the beautiful sky,
It’s such a clear day.
Go ridin’ in,
Your sweet lullabies,
Come fly away.”

— https://www.lyricfind.com/

Origin - February 2020

“Creativity is not a competition.”

— Autumn Sky Hall

Origin. Acrylic Painting on 36”x 48” Canvas. Completed February 2020

Origin is one of my personal favorites. My neighbor Dona C. Mann and I decided to exchange original works, and this was my contribution to their collection of art. I therefore asked Donna to write a few lines of her thoughts on the painting. See her thoughts below:

“Having taught English, literacture and social studies most of my thirty years, I felt most engaging when focusing on the origins of civilization.

The stories of the Fertile Crescent and African Villages fascinated me then as they do even more so today. IN order to model my teacher/student creed, “I’ll never ask you to do anything I would not do,” I conducted my own action research research project on elephants.

My love for them and intrigue with their societal behaviors instilled a great respect after that experience. Imagine how exciting I was to move next door to an amazing family who sponsor elephants in their native Kenya.

When Zikki presented the surprise painting to me, my first reaction was, “Origin of the Species.” His simple reply? “I named this work Origin.”

Whenever I look at this piece of art, I am blessed that we share such an amazing connection with the country of Kenya and the ever evolving African Continent.”

— Dona C. Mann

When I asked Dona, what song comes to mind when you look at the painting, she said, “Circle of Life.”

“In the circle of life
It’s the wheel of fortune
It’s the leap of faith
It’s the band of hope
’Til we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, the circle of life”

— Circle of Life

Thank you Donna.

Empowered - January 2020

“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on”

— Albert Einstein

Empowered. Completed January 2020. Acrylic Paint on 36”x 48” Canvas

Empowered is my first canvas and it sit right behind my office desk. The painting is a conversation starter and it’s painted on a large 36'“x 48” canvas. The green is well known to pick up '‘Green Screen” virtual backgrounds on Zoom conference calls, a definite eye pleaser.

This painting took close to 3 weeks to complete because I knew what was in my head but depicting it well was my main concern. If you know me, then you know that the slim fitting jeans and Chukka Boots are part of my regular attire. So yes, it’s a mix between my style and a serious elephant pointing at you or another to stay empowered and empower others.

If this painting could be in a song, it would be a mix between “Positive Vibration,” Bob Marley with a Jimi Hendrix mash-up. Empowering lyrics from the song:

Say you just can't live that negative way
If you know what I mean
Make way for the positive day
'Cause it's news (new day) news and days
New time (new time), and if it's a new feelin' (new feelin'), yeah
Said it's a new sign (new sign)
Oh, what a new day

Hope this empowers you to do and be better.

Droplets Elephant - May 2018

"Creativity is intelligence having fun." -- Albert Einstein

Droplets Elephant. 6ftx6ft. Wall Art. Completed May 2018

This is by far the simplest painting I’ve done. The entire project took less than 5 hours.

The idea was fresh on my mind and my passion for elephants was depicted well in this painting. Would you imagine the frame was created by spraying black paint over blue painting tape.

A song that comes to mind when I look at this painting is Burna Boy’s, Anybody. It’s a great song, especially when Burna hits that chorus,

“Anybody, wey no want to soji
Anybody, wey no dey carry body
Nack am something, ah ah
Nack am something
To ba ta fele, fele
Nack am something
”

— https://genius.com/Burna-boy-anybody-lyrics

The song is as African as this Elephant, but is listened to globally as the African Elephant is respected and celebrated globally. It’s a beauty and makes me proud to have the painting in my garage.

Got Stung While Painting →

When painting, I prefer to do so outside due to summer heat and humidity. Usually have a beer and water on the table beside my painting supplies. This was the case on August 1, 2020, as I worked on my latest painting.

The first few hours were very productive as you can see on the video above. Then a Yellow Jacket Bee appeared and as we got a fly swatter, he disappeared. Five or so minutes later, I decided to sip on my beer for my short break.

Reached and lifted to drink the beer while contemplating the next stroke of my paint brush on the painting. As the beer sipped into my mouth, I felt a sharp, stinging pain at the very tip of my tongue. It was very difficult to control my reaction and the paintbrush fell directly to the floor as I started trying to dislodge whatever it was that was stuck on my tongue. A few seconds later, the sting was at the tip of my index finger and the pain was setting in.

The Beer Loving Bee

Once this guy stung my tongue, he was done. I feel for him.

In an effort to remain calm, I sat down and quickly Googled what to do when stung by a Bee on the tongue. Most advice was for pets and not humans, so got ice to cool it down, and drunk a few glasses of water. To disinfect, got a double shot of Jameson.

Long story short, I wouldn’t wish that on your or anyone else. Moral of the story, bees like beer and are very defensive. From today on, I’ll be drinking beer from a Beer Glass.

Cheers!

My Creative Journey

“Creativity takes Courage - Henri Mattise”

Interested in learning more about the creativity journey and detail around each painting?

For example, Mambalicious was given the name by my niece and is a combination of Mamba, swahili for Crocodile and …licious, which is part of my sister-in-laws instagram handle.

Mambalicious. 24”x 36” Canvas. Completed July 2020.

Art has grown on me, and with every painting, I learn something new. Other artist friends give me feedback and I incorporate that into the next one. My son gives me live feedback. He’s eight, but has an adult’s eye, so I take his thoughts and comments seriously. Planning to share more on each painting in coming months.

Each post will publish on Saturday at 11am, here on https://www.munyao.com/blog.

Twenty Twenty has been a rollercoaster ride for us all, but finding something to keep you going, staying motivated, encouraged, creative and active will help you and those around you. Welcome to my creative journey and feel free to provide feedback in the comments.

“If my story were ever to be written truthfully from start to finish, it would amaze everyone. ”
- Henri Matisse”

— https://www.henrimatisse.org/