Painting Bananas
When I was growing up, my mother tried to impress on me that if I didn’t take my studies seriously, I would end up selling mangoes on the side of the street like the vendors in the heat meandering the dusty streets of Dar es Salaam.
Years later, now in the Dominican Republic, I see ladies with bananas on their heads dodging motorcycles and cars alike in order to sell bananas for a few pesos and remember her wise words.
So I sat down over a cup of morning coffee to draw a banana in front of me, and I took it to the International Women’s fair to add to my table for the meeting.
Selling Bananas
Tanya, seemed to like it even as the paint was still drying. She didn’t cash at the time, so she said she would call me, and she really did! I was amazed that she sought me out to buy this banana. Its a simple drawing, acrylic on hessian canvas, it took me less than 15 mins, but someone was willing to follow up with calls and drive home to pick it up…and pay for it!!
Bananas have been a big thing in my 15 month old’s diet..every time he sees a banana he shouts..NANA! And he did so even with this painting, I have eaten and fed my son many bananas this month and so I suppose the 15 minute painting is a culmination of all of that.
Stashing Bananas Amid COVID19
Wow..who would have thought I would say so much about a banana…Maybe I should paint more bananas.
I started this blog exactly two years ago and for some reason (wait I know what it was, I was interrupted by baby and or toddler and I never published it.)And now…well its still pertinent, my daughter, now the toddler is mad about bananas! We go through a bunch every two days. Now, fast forward to March 2020, (this blog was started in Feb 2018..). When the people around us rushed to buy toilet paper…in the midst of the Covid 19 Pandemic (doesn’t make sense I know..its not even related to diarrhoea), I bought a case of bananas…
As I write this blog, my freezer is stacked with bananas, my oven has just produced a copious amount of banana muffins and we still have bananas spilling out of the fruit basket. One could say, we and everything around us has gone bananas!
Thank you to Tanya for buying my banana painting, I have done one for myself as well as I loved it so much.
