Makeda: The painter and her vivid flowers

Makeda, the Queen of Sheba, also known as Nakuti, Nicaule or Balqis means beauty in Amharic (One of Ethiopia's official languages).
Beauty manifests through the paintings of Christina Clodomir, artistically known as Makeda. With acrylic as her main paint, Makeda prefers lively flowers as her subjects.
Flowers speak to her. She summarizes their monologues in the titles of the paintings, such as "Majestic Bird", "Congo Trio" and "Find Me Taste Me".
According to her, flowers are a representation of the world.
"Inside flowers, there is a similarity with everything that is, whether [they are] human beings or nature," she explains. "It is a divine prototype."
Makeda enjoys burying herself in her paintings.
"I take pleasure in focusing," she says. "In art, hours don't matter anymore."

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Today, Saturday, August 31, Makeda is hosting an exhibition for her paintings at the Art Center Wynwood in Miami, Florida from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. A reception will be held at 7:00 p.m. until the end of the exhibit.

Gilbert Mirambeau Jr: Ray of Sun

Photo provided by Gilbert Mirambeau

Please click here to be directed to Gilbert Mirambeau Jr's newest blog entry, "Ray of Sun," depicting a dialogue between a child soldier and his memory.
"I was dreaming all night and couldn't sleep," recollected Gilbert. "I was thinking about these kids, soldier children..."
As he wondered about those kids, he thought of them strolling and wanting to forget about "these monstrosities."
In an effort to understand how those children would surmount the challenge of forgetting their past, Gilbert created this piece.
"I'm always trying to find these impossible dialogues between a writer and his character,"  he explained. "Here I went beyond, where the child is talking to his memory."

Jerry Laraque: Every Rap Song Is A Page of A Diary

Photo provided by Jerry Laraque

Tall, calm with a keen knowledge of Hip Hop, Jerry Laraque (Jey) is a rapper with a mission. Through his raps that he deems "more like a hobby," he relates his life and the social life in Haiti.
"I rap about everything that strikes me," said Jey. He embarked in this journey in 2002 when his friend, The Maestro, also known as T-Ansyto Mercier, established his record studio. Soon after, Jey had turned the studio into his second home. Everyday after school and work, he would come in to work on new records. By 2013, Laraque had recorded more than 20 songs.
He released about six songs, including the hit song Konpran mwen, found in the Envazyon mixtape by The Maestro and Aton.
He later joined Trafik, a rap band founded by The Maestro and comprised of Kadafi, Sila and Mad-C. With them, he released another successful song, titled Ke Solid.
Nonetheless, because of personal issues, he had to stop rapping for a while.
"[Going to the studio after work] was a sacrifice,"explained Jey.
Moreover, his band, Trafik, dissolved after the 2012 Haiti earthquake. Many of them left the country.
Eventually, Jey returned to the music scene. He is now working on a project, titled JeyDay, with Freday, another rapper. They are working on an album together and already have five songs ready.
"Before, I only recorded with T-Ansyto," said Jey. "[T-Ansyto] is now working on multiple projects; therefore I now work with multiple producers, which is good for my style. My style is more of a party thing."
He has also been featured in five commercials in Haiti.
"I've done commercials for Access Haiti, Toro (an energy drink) and King Cola," said Jey.
"I want to thank everyone who supported me, especially my mom and brothers," he added.
As an advice for all aspiring rappers, he concluded they "must strive and rap with love."

Jasmine Tate performs tomorrow

Jasmine Tate peforming at 720 Cafe

After a successful concert at the Second Annual Rock All Night Tour (R.A.N.T.) on the 10th, Jasmine Tate will be performing again tomorrow at 7 p.m. in Grove City as an opening act for David Wade. Click here for more information on this event.
At the R.A.N.T. event last Saturday, she performed along with six other artists at the 720 Music, Clothing and Cafe venue. Overall, 50 bands were in attendance and performed in neighboring venues. Tate gave away t-shirts and CDs to the audience to help them connect with her music.
On August 31, Tate will be performing at the Wick'D Conference in a Navajo Reservation in New Mexico.
She will be in Grove City on Sept. 13 and 21 for respectively her EP/CD release and a fashion show.
Stay tuned for more info!