"Trumpet Introduction" Utangulizi wa Tarumbeta,

Utangulizi wa Tarumbeta, which is Swahili for "Trumpet Introduction" is a nine painting series in which I have created by focusing on trumpet players. Each painting is an oil/mixed media on canvas, all named after various cities in the USA, with seven of the nine paintings ranging in sizes 11x14in and the other two 18x24. The cities which are included in this series consist of, Little Haiti of Miami, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Uptown Harlem of Manhattan, Jackson, Memphis, Birmingham, and New Orleans. Each city is represented through bright, bold, and dull colors to capture the complex imagery showing a parable of devastation and reconstruction through the reflection of gentrification. This is depicted through the solitude of a young black boy playing his trumpet, crying out a sad serenade with his instrument, leaving essence of culture to remain.

Believe it or not, this is actually my very first series!