July 2001?
My friend Beth and I think we've narrowed down the time to this date. I do remember it was the Fourth of July weekend when I started painting. Although I am perfectly old enough to have seen all the hippie cars and vans, I never saw a painted car until I saw Fishbone's in 2000, I think. It blew my hair back. I was in love.
Fishbone agreed to paint it, but he had a major procrastination problem (with which I identify). But boo hoo! I'm not an artist. I can't draw. I don't know how to hold a brush.
Then I saw a kid-sized table and chairs at Diana's house. She had painted them using sponges. Aha! I know how to handle a pair of scissors!
My friend Gordy's a signmaker and he told me all I needed to know about 1-SHOT, the lettering enamel that causes cancer in California.
Off I went, and off I still go.
I'd had the amazing opportunity to spend five weeks in Ghana, West Africa, in August of 1998. That experience pushed me over the edge into afrophilia -- a short trip -- as seen on that Cressida. Almost every drop of paint shows off an Adinkra symbol or Ashanti fabric. You can see other African influences on my things at
I can't imagine it ever leaving me.
That gye nyame on the hood is also on the hood of my 1990 Toyota Corolla. The symbol is called Except God or But God in Ghana. It was everywhere: on signs and fabrics and tile. I was told it refers to the idea that no one was around to see God create the world, and no one will be around to see the end of the world -- except God. That's from the mouths of people in Ghana. From websites comes a more concise if not more accurate version: Gye nyame represents the supremacy of God.
The design on the trunk is a stylized (of course) version of the Ghana flag.
Man, I loved that Cressida!
