An African Woman by an African Woman

I found this hiding in my sketch book the other day. I happened to flip to a random page and there it was. Maybe nothing is really random, but that's what it felt like. It made me smile so I thought I would share. My mom drew it. She draws me often I think. She always makes me look older. Even when she used to paint or draw me as a little girl, it seemed she would craft the face of an older woman. I don't know if that's intentional or maybe more just stylistic. I think a lot of my inspiration when it comes to art has come from my mom. Stylistically maybe we aren't so distant, but our styles are definitely distinct.

Sometimes my mom doesn't give herself enough credit or she says she is not that good, but I think she's a great artist. Next time I go home, (which may be next weekend!) I'll photograph some of her paintings to show off. A lot of her inspiration seems to come from Africa. On canvas, she can turn any scene into a shot of a tribal African village or an African market or anything African, really. I think she sees Africa in everything and in everyone. I also think that sometimes she thinks she is African. She's told me she's more African than I am. Which may be true in a way. I am African by blood, but she is African by experience. She lived there, studied there, loved there, and married into the culture. I think she dedicated a lot of her passions to Africa. Maybe you can't see all of this in this tiny pencil sketch, but I can, clear as day.

-doe