“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.”
― Plato

Last night, in response to the WordPress Weekly Photo Prompt – Magic, I chose to present a shot of a piece of art hanging on the wall of the flat in which I will spend the next few weeks.

This morning, on waking to the sound of unfamiliar birds, I gazed across the rooftops of Abuja from my peaceful haven on a ridge of low hills, and decided to check out who had painted the wonderful images hanging on my walls.

The artist is Ini Brown, an African Artist from Nigeria. According to the website  of the Society of Nigerian Artists, ‘Ini Brown is renowned as a Watercolorist, even though he also paints with Oils, Acrylics etc. Ini is one of the most versatile and prolific watercolorists practicing in Africa in recent times. His creativity, ingenuity and dexterity with the watercolour medium is breathe-taking. His unique technique in the dramatic use of colors is awesome and intimidating.’

As soon as I walked into the apartment the pictures struck a visceral punch, the light and movement vividly capturing what I had seen on the streets. Although, Brown’s works on my walls do not reflect the dust laden air of the Harmattan winds which are currently filling the sky with dust from the Sahara to the north.

I thought I would share some fragments of Brown’s work here.

Those, used to some of my darker, more sombre posts and photographs over at andytownend.com may be surprised by all this light and life and colour.

Be prepared for more, a lot more 😉