Ghanaians have been encouraged to fall in love with painting and to purchase and invest in high-quality works of art.
This, according to Abusua, Concept Developer for the ‘Paint in the Garden’ project, is because painting is a superb problem-solving skill and helps one to relax.
“We are stressed, a lot of people are worried. There is too much pressure in town, and painting is something that helps you relax, reduce pressure, and it’s a form of meditation for a lot of people. And it helps with your creative thinking and problem-solving skills. So ‘Paint in the Garden’ is achieving the first objective of giving people in Ghana, all over Accra, an opportunity to have a very wholesome, relaxing, and healing experience on Sundays before the week starts or after a very difficult week.”
His appeal comes on the back of a lack of interest outside the painting industry. In his view, painting creates employment, generates revenue, and helps fight climate change, and that’s what ‘Paint in the Garden’, a project which aims to teach and encourage people to fall in love with painting, does.
“It’s something we do every Sunday at the Department of Parks and Gardens, where we bring together people, families, hobbyists, individuals, workers, colleagues, and friends, to come and have an exciting painting adventure in the garden. It is also to encourage Ghanaians to fall in love with gardening and with plants. You see, we have a lot of trees. We were born in trees, but then what is happening is that people are killing the trees, and then we are cutting down trees and buildings with nothing like that, and it’s affecting the climate. So there is a problem with climate change and if you tell people to just plant trees, they will not. So what we want to do is connect people through painting to fall in love with nature, to learn how to plant, set up small gardens all over the house and all over the country, so that we will help fight climate change.”
He explained: “The painting industry is vibrant if you are in the industry in terms of the artist, but the moment you move from that sector of the artist and craft people, it is very dull. The thing we also know is that a lot of Ghanaians are beginning to appreciate the value of painting and art. They are looking for avenues and opportunities. What they don’t find is quality places where they can do that. The industry is huge. In some, countries, it is a whole sector of national development economy, but we haven’t gotten there yet. What we need to do is get people to know that they can find quality painting, available opportunities through ‘Paint in the Garden’ and other places. So the industry is low generally in the public, but Ghanaians actually value painting and they are ready to invest in it.”
Abusua also said painting teaches life lessons like patience and resource management.
“What we do with ‘Paint in the Garden’ is we just don’t let you paint. We actually teach you life skills while you are painting. There are some core lessons we learn, something like ‘The See, the Understand, and then The Convince’. There are patience lessons that you also learn because, as you are painting, you need to take your time with the strokes. There are also life lessons, like when you look at nature, as it goes higher, things become lighter, and even how to put artwork on a canvas with limited resources.”
The artist urged everyone to get into the creative industry.
“I know people who are looking for paintings to buy. You know, like building structures for real estate people. They can come to us and we actually do custom artwork for them that they put in every room. And that even enhances the brand value of the room. Everyone should become a part of the movement because it’s not just about painting. It’s about creativity and enhancing self-development, getting people to fight against climate change.”