Geoffrey K. Hlorgbey

"I was born at Abor in the Volta Region of Ghana on April 29, 1980. I am a quiet and friendly person. I noticed my ability when an NGO visited our school and wanted to help talented students who were good at drawing. I participated and received commendation from the NGO officials. They selected a few of the students with the assurance they would return with their package, but that was where it ended. <br><br> "A friend who was pursuing visual arts in the senior high school saw the same drawing and was surprised I could draw very well. He kept encouraging me to continue with it because I had a natural talent. I used to visit this friend when I returned from school and mostly during holidays to observe him paint and also to practice painting. I was accepted at the Ghanatta College of Arts, and Mr. Offei Darko, a lecturer at the college, was very helpful. He made time to help me improve on my skills. <br><br> "Through consistent practice, I've improved on the way I paint. Most of my themes are market women, market scenes and environments. I use acrylic on canvas for most of my works. I am also into graphic designing and printing tee shirts. I weave kente, but not to sell. <br><br> "What I love most about paintings is the fact that they can last for a long time. <br><br> "When I started on my own, I used to hang all the paintings in my room. I loved my work I didn't want to sell it. It was difficult for me then to get money to buy the raw materials, and I could not remain dependent on my parents. This made me look out for avenues to sell my paintings. <br><br> "I sent some to galleries. My friends from the arts college and I formed a group called Art Revolution with the aim of staging exhibitions. Fortunately for us, a woman working at the British Council who loved paintings decided to assist us by sponsoring our first two exhibitions, which we held in 2005. In October of 2009, I held a solo exhibition in Accra. <br><br> "I recount a silly moment in my life when I was introduced by a friend to a man from abroad who was interested in art. He requested 50 paintings, paid for the initial 25 paintings, and traveled with them. I had his address, through which I had to send the remaining 25 paintings for payment when he received the items. I sent the items to him and he requested an extra 30 paintings, promising to wire the money for all the paintings when he received the last 30. Thinking I had a good business opportunity, I used all the money from the partial payment to buy raw materials. I supplied the 30 paintings as requested and that was the last time I heard from this man to date. <br><br> "My dream is to build my own art studio and gallery. I hope to be a well known artist by 2015."