continuing the new work

Hi, here is the next batch of latest paintings, some based on Nox Mafu's poems for the ConneXion2, and some just from the heart.

In the Field: 600x800mm

In the field

Loving you, I am like a researcher

On the field:

The 1st Corinthians 13;

A popular measuring instrument,

But, not for my study,

Respondents coded:

# 1 and # 2,

That’s the extent of data,

With intricacies I have

To interpret and analyze

But, as I am progress with # 2,

I am familiar with # 1 through a pilot study

Now, with vivid memories I am intrigued

To embark on further studies with # 1;

# 2 somehow would be validated with a study with # 1

Just during the vacation from the current phase;

The interpretation and analysis of the entire study

Is personal.

The summary, findings and conclusions, is love;

I love both # 1 and # 2

The recommendations are; first: # 1

Should not know about the process;

Second, further studies can be conducted after the vacation.

Cry for Africa 1000x1500mm

Cry for Africa

Even the bites and gusts of wounds by mice- are nothing to the souls of Africans,

It may seem as harm, but nothing in what has happened,

For they charge with their chins some up-some down,

This has to do with being sons and daughters of the soil;

Whether the winds blow, hit heavily, instead of vanishing

The seeds spread all around and at a time – sprout,

Be it the damage, it barely shows as caused by those gusted bites,

As the seedlings grow the roots support them - be it the plants are afar from the soil, but holding on only with roots-the distance never exists, for Africa rules within in such a wondrous, precious and inevitable manner that is hard to disregard.

The magic she spreads all around unifying her offspring with pride, as they are all about

For, no parent wishes for such a thing to occur,

With yearnings of unification heard and may also seem disregarded by seeing the divide amongst and between, but consistently for unity,

While poverty enforces hypocrisy,

Death, strikes ceaselessly,

But, be it so- brothers, sisters, mothers and fathers,

All these are what Africa has had enough of,

The term unification is such as old as ever,

And yet continues to be howled,

For it is the core of it all,

You all know its weight,

But, needs are knotted unto loyalty to partition,

Be it so unification remains the thing,

We all know it is so, for out there you are never complete without who you are;

Unify don’t divide

Joy in nature 1000x800mm

Joy in nature

The skies are blue

The trees are green

The shades shine on

With the sun and joy

Avails for an opened

Soul to change, yet

Not static as it all

Comes and goes, like

Summer, fall

Spring, winter

The soul is blue-green

Static-vibrant

Shiny-cheery

With shades of blue

With shades of green

In the soul nothing, but

Joy

COUGH UP 500x400mm

COUGH UP

Cough it up;

See their sympathy,

Allow them to your back,

It is all fun;

It is all a joke,

Those who care not;

Won’t anticipate your back,

You hear them;

They laugh,

You see them:

They wiggle,

Those who pretend;

At you back,

They forget that

You can see behind through them,

You have ears for all said,

At your back.

Cough it up;

They are lonely;

Yearn for such kind of entertain,

Cough it up;

They know none,

Cough it up;

Refresh you,

You cough it up,

You cough it up.

Freedoms of the Democracy 900x1000mm

 

Freedoms of the Democracy

Upon the tallest steady trees

Thinly-thickly rooted they stand

The rays from the east to west

The blows of wildly-smoothly winds

The frosts from the northest north

All clear and admirably they stand

With protection of freedoms of the

Democracy as prescribed for others

As they stand low

Thinly-thickly rooted they stand

Upon the tallest trees the sunrise rises

And shines, the sunset sets and shines

Open the heart 900x900mm

 

Open the heart

To absorb the flows

Of breezy leaves and

Blue sky with peace-full

Clouds scattered-gathered

With tedious efforts for

One and all in one heart

Oozing blood that is shot

Through renewing branches

On the trunk situated deep

Down in rich - loamy – soil

Only a naked heart can

Absorb it all as it is in need

Line of Trees 300x600mm

Line of Trees

Of the same origin

Yet each unique

From same origin

And others, yet

Each stands up

By, and About

For it’s own and

Itself, yet each lines

The line of trees

Of the same origin

That has made all

Yet each be as is

Line of trees

Of the same origin

Lined up and as

Tall they stand as

Short they stand as

Thin they stand as

Thick they stand as

Line of trees.

 

Happy Feet  300x400mm

Happy Feet

Glowing with golden

Colours so admired by

All and illustriously so

Gliding on the golden

Glassy grounds, to golden

Keynotes

So harmoniously tuned in

Rhythmic mood that shoots

A vibrant popping happy feet

A poignant tapping happy feet

A sliding dancing happy feet, a

Thundilicious sound happy feet

Living a joyous laughter that’s

Filled with colours of life, a life

Happy feet

My feet, my life, a happy feet-life

That’s what I love living for, that’s

Happiness

 

Best Foot Forward  400x300mm

Best Foot Forward

Only the chosen one gets the limelight

That one creates for herself, with select

Jewels that enhance the appeal for select

Beholder in contemplation, for fulfillment

Of the desires, while bestowed enchanted

Perfumes thickly-wildly mesmerize, just the

Best foot forward!

Prickly subject  500x800mm

 

 

 

Prickly subject

Is what makes me

Prickly

And what make you

Prickly

As it makes us

Prickly

Be it love, be it peace

Be it joy, be it happiness,

Be it sharing, be it smile

Be it dance, be it unity,

Be it smile, be it it, or not

Is what makes me

Prickly

And what make you

Prickly

As it makes us

Prickly

Prickly subject, is,

Not as always has

Been whatever it was

That makes, breaks

Me, you, us, are a

Prickly subject

 

To the woods 1 and 2   600x300mm

 

To the woods
I find myself going to the woods

 

For the woods of fire against colds

For the woods of green for the soul

For the woods of yellow for

For the woods of sticky for mate

For the woods of shade from heat

Right in the middle of the woods

 

A path I endeavor on to the woods

While there for all, but known to me

As I alone find myself on it, in it, to

Which is just in of the other but, yet

Different from the other woods I leave

I find myself going for the woods right

In between the woods with colors of blue

Sent from above the woods to meet the

Dark colors of blue in me and lighter, light

From above the white colors of the clouds

Meet the darker colors as I go for the woods

The route lights, light with lighter colors of

Blue and light shades of white as I go on

I find myself filled with lighter shares of light

Protect your Pawns: 400x400

 

 

in this country, women and children are often just pawns in the power games played by men, but it is time our society realised that they are not just disposable assets.

 

Stand By Me 400x400mm

 

 

Making babies is easy, but too often, staying together and taking responsibility for the precious life that is made is quite another thing...

 

Here Comes that rainy day feeling again, 400x800mm

 

 

the blues descend on all of us at some stage, but if we can only see past them, there is some pink in the future!

 

How do you see our future? 900x900mm

 

 

This is a controversial painting about a painful subject, I will leave you to answer the question for yourself.

More New Work

More poem/paintings, the poems are all by Nox Mafu and the paintings are my response to them.

Commonly Shared Madness 600x500mm

Commonly Shared Madness

My heart belongs to a lunatic

High in speed and continuous

Harmony-harmony-harmony

In soul, sight, head, body and

Happy-exciting-joyous vibes,

Pounding to burst it out of the

Woods lined thickly protecting

It from harsh colds, wildly winds

And scorching sun and lowness

From that all it stays pounding

In harmony, joyful and looking

Forward to all the many exciting

Things yet to come from linkage

With the rest who live for nothing

But harmony in linkage with others

As success comes from shared and

Commonly envisioned endeavours

 

Delusional Love 600x500mm

 

 

Delusional Love

 

Loving you even in your disappearance,

While desiring your reappearance, and I

Pain over your voiceless on things I desire

Your noodles as well as your silence on what

I find irrelevant and distractive of what we

Could have, hence we’ve got nothing of us.

Clearly as long as its’ about what I long for

In you, without what I long for in us, and

As long as its’ about what you long for in me

But not about what you long for in us, rather

What WE long for in us, there’s nothing at all,

No longing of the same as there’s no-love, no-us.

While its’ delusional love on one part its may be

One other thing, but love on the other side,

Hence delusional love on the latter part.

 

Oh Darling Happiness 750x600mm

Oh Darling Happiness

I’m filled with so much happiness,

I live-strive for more, happiness

It is, but sometimes distractions

Throw in extremes of what I often

Have in me, in pursuit for the worst

To fill me and snatch away that I love

Hence I live-strive for more happiness

Life is full of reasons for one to be happy

Only if one disregards all that’s making

One unhappy, which is also in plentitudes

And one can consume as much to end life

And the life of others as it’s contagious, but

Just as happiness, with my happiness many

Can be contaminated and a happy life-earth

Eventually all will be happier with shared

Happiness embedded deep inside if only one

Can keep on digging and letting it out there

And about for themselves and for others

Happiness will be what filled us so much

 

Us, in me 400x500mm

 

 

Us, in me

Just the thought of you fills the entire me,

The special glow that overflows soothes all in me;

Peace conquers the inner-entire me,

Soft light brightens in-out of me,

Harmonious sounds blocks away the noise,

Remarkable move slightly bring you to me,

Fabulously, we embrace;

Unique breed only shared by two,

So appealing, fulfilling-yearning;

Me, you alone

It is us that exist;

Right within me,

Wow the silver cord!

How I wish…

Who are you? 600x600mm

Who are you?

Greetings....

Ice face, all on it; iced,

Open freezer-door,

Utter ice cubes:

Who are you?

may i....

Who are you?

i would like to...

Who are you?

eh..eh eh eh

Ice-cold air;

difficulty to breathe,

eyes clouded,

face freezes

Open freezer door freezes 'all'

Too much 'Ice'

Who are you?

may i want to get in?

No, Not you!

Just Go, GO Away!

ehh...

You again!

Nothing for you in Here!

Look, look at all in Here!

See?

All above you,

Just kneel, beg and

'RECOGNIZE'!

If you don't,

you are not getting in,

There is no time,

Nor space,

Not even the eyes for you in Here!

Accept it, or leave it!

The Journey 1500x500mm

The journey

Looking forward to

Where?

Neither do I know,

Nor have I seen any one from,

But! Looking forward to,

Where?

To be there, there to see,

Anticipating and wanting to be there.

Looking forward to,

Where?

To leave, leaving behind

All that I know;

Looking forward to,

Where?

To be there; to leave,

Leaving behind all.

Bye-byes said now and then,

ears have had their share,

The bums have been positioned

And have had too much of

Thick plastic upholstered seats

The waiting-wanting has worn them,

Tossing them is useless,

What want is to go away,

I am looking forward to go,

Others, loitering as the hounds

Looking for a place to sleep,

as if, not looking forward to

Where?

Neither do I know

Nor do they know.

At last the drummmh,

Drummh, dru-drummhh,

Relieves panic, and

Gathers loiterers

I am looking forward to,

The place where I am to see,

If all I envisioned is there.

The Deep 1&2 800x400mm

the deep

Deep, deep, deep

Down, down, down

Deep-down, down and deep

Deep, deep, deep

Where none can see

But only one

None can feel

But only one

None can touch

But only one

Can the only one

Really see?

But only one

Can the only one

Really feel?

But only one

Can the only one

Really touch?

But only one

The deep, deep, deep

Down, down, down

Deep-down, down and deep

Deep, deep, deep

But only one

Must know and knows

The deep-down

But only one

Who knows only one

But only one

Has only one’s deep

Deep-down, down and deep The deep 1 400x800mm

Deep-down, an undersurface

But only one

Who knows only one

Undersurface-surface

But only one

Who knows only one

Acquires the deeper

Of the only one

About only one’s deep

But only one

Who knows only one

Page 1 of 2

page 2 of 2

The greater only one

Knows about oneself

Only one can know if

Only one needs to know

About the only one

The deep, deep, deep

Down, down, down

Deep-down, down and deep

Deep, deep, deep

Where no winds occur

To blow the deep’s

Deep, deep, down

Where all there seem

To be still and still

Down, deep down

Which all one has

Down deep down

There, but the one

And only one

Not all have found

But there, by the

One and only one

To be found down

There is in abundance.

I'm BACK!

As you will have gathered from my last few posts, and my long absences between posts, I have been going through a hectic phase of biting off too much, and then trying to chew and swallow it. Luckily things are getting back to normal, and the art gallery is now ticking along happily with good staff to run it. As a result, I am back in the studio, and painting up a storm.

What makes it even better is that I am not just producing random works about anything that inspires me, but am working towards a very definite goal and an exciting project. I mentioned it briefly in my last post; my friend Nox Mafu, who is from PE but is living in New York while obtaining her PhD, is a wonderful poet, and we are working towards a collaborative exhibition, where I do a series of paintings to express the themes she covers in her poetry, and she writes poems on her reaction to some of my paintings. We will exhibit them as duo-works. We have had a wonderful time sparking ideas off each other. The project now has a name, "ConneXion2" and has grown from the original idea of a single exhibition, into an ongoing process in both the USA and South Africa, involving book publishing, teaching of children by giving workshops in low income areas, and exhibiting annually, alternating between US and SA. We have also been developing a website, so things are humming along nicely.

One of the reasons for my long silence is that I did not want to pre-empt the exhibition by posting the work beforehand. But I do not have a huge readership here, and the first exhibition will take place in New York, where it is unlikely many people will have seen the work here, so I decided I might as well post pix to show my friends what I have been up to, so I'll add a few at a time in the coming weeks.

Although both the poems and paintings are able to stand alone, I am publishing them both together because in a sense they gave birth to each other and because you might enjoy seeing how they relate to each other.

An X marks a Spot, 900x900mm

An X marks a Spot

An x, is an x

Not just an x

More than just an x

That we see,

It can mean anything!

When written as x;

It is two c's attached

On the backs, look at

The paces above and below

The attached part, that

May as well be occupying something,

It can mean anything!

x can represent any value;

When written as x;

Are two criss-crossed lines,

Four v's facing; South,

East, West and North,

A sign of incorrect,

It can mean anything!

To make a mark; x is used;

Vote, signature of illiterate,

And a difference occurs,

X is more than just an x

Can you really tell what it is?

We lose them, They Expand 1000x1000mm

 

We Lose Them, They expand

A girl next door, got pregnant,

She was older than me a few years;

The prospective father was an activist,

In one of radical political organizations,

Geared at eliminating the apartheid regime

During that time; he got killed;

Attending an underground meeting,

Just, after his infant was conceived.

What a loss, losing men fighting for our freedom

What a loss for her

What a loss for that unborn child,

What a loss for the family

What a loss for the nation,

It never occurred to me,

That the thought would be with me

This much even after 20 years,

I still remember

The cries, the grief,

That made the backbone erect,

The cloudy atmosphere,

Streets with blazing tires’ smoke,

Tear gas fiercely shot at us,

With reddened eyes my people

Charged with the spirit of no return,

I remember the pain my people felt,

A boy was born, named; Ayanda:

Meaning: “They are expanding”,

Be it the people die, they expand;

The soldiers are expanding.

I saw him growing up as I also grew,

It never occurred to me,

That the thought would be with me

This much even after 20 years,

I still remember

It still strongly touches my heart,

In high school, with my dearest friend,

We prepared to go for a protest,

The brigadier had to be overthrown

From oppressing the people,

The masses were mobilized;

Taxis, buses, most people with cars,

Trucks, vans had them open free of charge

For the masses to protest,

In the midst of it all; an announcement,

We heard, before we got at Bisho;

There has been a massacre,

The blood of innocent people,

Flowing in the streets, a greedy

The policemen like hunter men; butchered,

without remorse. As some pushed to move ahead,

I remained captivated by the sorrow around me,

In the midst of everything,

It was dispatched that, amongst,

Many of our friends,

Many of my people,

My best friend’s brother,

Had been killed,

What a loss, losing men fighting for our freedom

What a loss for her

What a loss for the family

What a loss for the nation,

What a loss to us

It never occurred to me,

That the thought would be with me

This much even after 20 years,

I still remember,

It still strongly touches my heart,

What a loss, to the nation

 

The Desperate Ones 1200x1000mm

 

 

The Desperate Ones

They come in

They come out

And we stay

They go in

They go out

And we stay

The desperate ones

Do whatever, damn

And we stay,

Them, chow whatever

Out there and here

And we stay

Them, chow however

Whenever, from whoever

And we stay,

Right here, whoever,

Whenever, whatever,

And we stay,

 

The desperate ones,

Pin up-down, search,

And we stay,

Zoom nearer-farther,

Whatever-however

And we stay,

Them, flip and flop

With cold touch

And we stay

The desperate ones

They live as

And we stay

We stay and we stay

We stay as

The desperate ones

Call Me a Snob, 1200x800mm

Call me a snob

For I was born in the south of the continent of our Motherland

As you were born in the United States of America by the parents

Given birth to by the sons and daughters of Motherland, for that

I call you a brother, I call you a sister; we are of the same origin

Yes of I strive to speak like you in your language for in this land

I need to be sounding like you for you to take me as you, yes of

Course; call me a snob for I buy the stuff you buy for your children

For my children, I also buy the name brand labels and send home

Yes of course call me a snob because I am becoming Americanized

I am becoming you; Is there shame in becoming the being you are-I am?

Yes of course.

How could I have disregarded the obviously sorely at home

of nobody wanting and becoming me? The worse is the divide;

You see no brother no sister in me but an alien that is mimicking you

You call me a snob for I’ve forsaken my peoples’ ways while living

In your land, suddenly I reckon that I am not welcomed in your land

Yes, you’re a foreigner not just to me but yourself for you see me not

In you but an alien wanting to be another alien in you, call me a snob.

One Woman’s Protest 900x900mm

One Woman’s Protest

I refuse to take it anymore

I will not take whatever

You tell me that I am

I will not dare listen

I move on with what is in me

You take it or leave it

You called and told me

That I am black woman

I took that as non-black I am

See I am brown and when I reckoned

That what this black you attach

To me pertains which has

Pained for the most part of my life

But I embraced, nursed and cherished

The pain of being a black woman

And I watched you living a better life of not

being a black person, I kneeled as required, and

as a black person under your supremacy,

I envied you given a status and priviledges, yes you

As a non-really-black person who marveled it all

And never wanted to be called a black person

This has been going on as much as you wish

Until you get to be where you want to be

Which is not - you – being – me, oh but you

In your own blackness that again and again

Puts me in otherness of who I have always been

But, now, right now, put me nowhere than I want

To be. I refuse to be given my whom I am

I just give you what you want to be, just be

For I am whom I am with what is in me

You take it or live it and that’s there to it!

I long for my land 1500x800

 

I long for my land

While the sun sets when afar from home,

With each boom of every hour I endure,

As several storms, winds, cold, heat of

Each of every second of a period, not to

mention the doom of the minutes surely

I am reminded of home and I am an alien.

A gaze on the changing sky, over the sea,

Hills and the mountains, around me, and

When the moon shows, I long for that

Woman with a baby on the back, tightly

Tied with a towel to her limbs to feel the

Heartbeat and remain connected to the baby

As is I am to come back home soon, yes

For when the sun sets, I seek for who I am

I seek for your comfort in the surrounding

Everywhere, in vain until I admit that, yes

I also have a home, but here I am an alien,

The nest 1 600x500mm

The nest 2 900x900mm

The nest

It may appear shaggily built,

but it is intact patterned

with disparate breeds of grass

and chips of woods.

The deeper gist is known by

the inhabitants within, but for

The one who has it built

There is a reason.

I wonder about such skill,

The power and love that have driven

To provide such a compound,

To protect us and others that might visit.

As she provides, some seem to snatch,

Such voracious chicks that instead of

Receiving, but gracelessly demand from

The hen of her maggots as a result of her

Toil and strength, the nest, it may appear

To be light; it is made up of complexity;

Which is love and it is indefinitely strong

To lift the load beyond the thunderous wind

blow, even if the nest falls, it remains intact

Without being smashed by the grounds.

Even idiotic utterance and actions, from

Juvenile boys and huntsman of the birds,

Unconsciously confirm such wondrous art,

Begotten from the receiver,

She who reckoned

From within;

The need and therefore,

Fulfills it, with the nest.

Conflict Resolution 1100x900mm

 

Conflict Resolution


 

You are you,

I am I,

You are yours,

I am mine!

But; there is One,

Whom you belong to;

And also the One

Whom I belong to!

But you; not to me,

And me; not to you!

Just a wish….

When the buzzing occurs,

Urging reasoning to reign

Within, I reckon that, truly

I am I and you are you, as

I am mine, you are yours,

While either belong to the One,

For we are distinctive; with each

Tic, tic we agree-disagree and

Sometimes drift like the nations

Spread through out the universe.

Then, accept that as is

For we are unique beings,

The privilege is that;

Treat you, as you're yours,

While

I, treat me, as if I'm mine!

For even the One and only One;

That each belongs to; treats us

In a manner that each deserves.

If a fight erupts, we need

To reckon and cease fighting for

What is not ours, moreover,

Figure out if whatever is yours,

Is worth fighting for, if it belongs to

Somebody else.