Monday, July 1, 2013
Quilted Nonsense: Celebrating Masai
Quilted Nonsense: Celebrating Masai: The Massai are very ordinary people with a simple life styl...e, they have always reminded me that the simple and best things in life are fr...
Quilted Nonsense: DIPO
Quilted Nonsense: DIPO: DIPO THE CEREMONY OF THE KROBO PEOPLE OF GHANA. After child naming ceremonies which happen eight days after birth, the next most recogni...
Quilted Nonsense: Dance
Quilted Nonsense: Dance: Dances teach social patterns and values, the most widely used musical instrument in Africa is the human voice. Some ethnic groups in Afr...
Quilted Nonsense: 'Rythyms of Africa' Winner! Winner!! Winner!!!
Quilted Nonsense: 'Rythyms of Africa' Winner! Winner!! Winner!!!: The 38th Annual North West Quilt show took place from the 29th to 30th of March and we had a big winner in the art quilt Category, my Afri...
Quilted Nonsense: Rythyms of Africa
Quilted Nonsense: Rythyms of Africa: This is one of my very latest art works reflecting the spirit of dance which was an auction piece to help raise money for the Project Hope ...
Quilted Nonsense: Touch of Impressionism
Quilted Nonsense: Touch of Impressionism: Its a pretty long while since I spent time on my blog, which I love so much and really never deserted it, I spent a lot of time campaigning...
Quilted Nonsense: Deceptively Yummy Signature Cupcake Pincushions
Quilted Nonsense: Deceptively Yummy Signature Cupcake Pincushions: Deceptive Yummy Cup cake pincushions are the talk of the town, they are carefully hand crafted from my hands to yours. I am so excited ab...
Quilted Nonsense: Deceptively Yummy Cupcake Pincushions ready to shi...
Quilted Nonsense: Deceptively Yummy Cupcake Pincushions ready to shi...: Its been a while since I blogged on Quilted Nonsense, but this time I decided to step out of the box and do something different in fiber art...
Quilted Nonsense: Asabone Dancer Patterns are here!
Quilted Nonsense: Asabone Dancer Patterns are here!: At long last the patterns are here!! Authentic African silhouette art quilt patterns, created by Wendy Mamattah. These are 12 by 12 inch ...
Quilted Nonsense: SPRING
Quilted Nonsense: SPRING: Spring is one of the four seasons, the transition period between winter and summer. Spring and "springtime" refer to the sa...
Quilted Nonsense: News Flash Here We Go!
Quilted Nonsense: News Flash Here We Go!: Its been pretty quite lately, but I have been sl...
Quilted Nonsense: Nature's Splendor
Quilted Nonsense: Nature's Splendor: Growing up in Ghana West Africa, we had lots of livestock that my dad loved to breed; there were chicken, duck, geese, pigs, sheep, goat, tu...
Quilted Nonsense: The Door of no Return
Quilted Nonsense: The Door of no Return: At Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, the 'Door of No Return' is often the last stop on the guided tour, where visitors watch in antici...
Quilted Nonsense: Wallowing Dreams
Quilted Nonsense: Wallowing Dreams: We all have dreams in a lifetime, while some dreams come true, others do not. The inspiration for this art work came to me as I read about...
Saturday, June 29, 2013
The Door of no Return
Cape Coast Castle is believed to have been built as a trading Lodge which was subsequently enlarged until it became a fortification. The lodge was first occupied by the Dutch in 1637, and was captured by the Swedes later. Finally in1664 it was captured by the British who renamed it Cape Coast Castle.
This Castle served as the seat of British administration in the Gold Coast until the administration moved to Accra in March of 1877.
Slaves were kept in the dungeons of Cape Coast Castle, while waiting to be transported to the new world as they called it, 1000 male slaves and 500 female slaves occupied the Castle at any giving time in separate dungeons, slaves were often locked up for 6 to 12 weeks, waiting for their turn to be shipped off to foreign lands. Conditions were not sanitary during this waiting period, urine and feces covered the floors of the dungeons.
I chose this topic for my maiden blog because my maternal routes hail from Cape Coast, and the story of slavery is very personal to me, some of my ancestors were taken away on the slaves ships into the new world, and I will never know their names.
Today, I look into most African American faces focusing on their features, and I ask myself, could they be from Cape Coast? or could they be part my family lineage? but the answer, I will never know.
In order to seek comfort for my self, I have decided to start an art quilt piece called the the 'Door of no Return.'
I believe that I will be atoned with the spirits of my ancestors whose names I wish I could speak, and I know that this art work which I am so excited about, will re-awaken the ancestral spirit, and will serve as history even though taken away, still lives on.
I dreamed this piece in the works, in shades of red to honer the lives that were lost during the slave voyages, and preserve through art, the memory, for generations yet unborn.
Wendy
Nature's Splendor. Now featured on 'The Quilt Show' June 2014!
Growing
up in Ghana West Africa, we had lots of livestock that my dad loved to breed;
there were chicken, duck, geese, pigs, sheep, goat, turkey, rabbit, guinea pig,
and grass cutter. This made me develop a love for nature and animals, daddy
also loved to cultivate the food for these creatures, so we always lived close
to a stream or river where he would use the water to irrigate the farm.
In
such places I found a sense of calm where I could reflect. Today as an artist
far away from my homeland, I come across similar places when I walk the
outdoors, and the looks of these places take me back to the serene places I
loved as a child and found calm, and sometimes I must create these sceneries.
There
was so much land to wonder about on, and I would often sit by the river or
stream and listen to the Cricket's and the Cicada bugs. They had a very
distinct sound that centered me in my mind and kept me calm.
In
such places I found a sense of calm where I could reflect. Today as an artist
far away from my homeland, I come across similar places when I walk the
outdoors, and the looks of these places take me back to the serene places I
loved as a child and found calm, and sometimes I must create these sceneries.
Natures
Splendor is an art piece that takes me back to my childhood days bringing
great memories stitched in fabric.
Dimensions; 42 L 60W
Original Work.
Created March 2013
Original Work.
Created March 2013
Braid and Stitch is
proud to announce that Nature's Splendor
was part of the Collection; "A bit of sunshine – from an Artists Palette"
at the LASells Stewart Center which holds the Guistina
Gallery at the Oregon State University, the largest gallery in the Pacific Northwest.
There were six Wendy Mamattah works in that display
making me very proud. They are Masai, Touch of Impressionism, Oh! What a
Wonderful World, The Grove, Adowa, and Color of Aspen.
Wendy.
Wendy.
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