MANSFIELD — Twenty-nine paintings in 28 days: that’s what Mansfield artist Ruthie Akuchie, 28, seeks to accomplish during Black History Month.
The Mansfield Senior graduate of 2007 is working on a collection of paintings featuring black female leaders. “These women inspire me personally,” Akuchie said.
The project began after Akuchie saw an image of sculptor Edmonia Lewis on Google. Having always enjoyed portraiture, she thought to herself, “I really want to paint her.”
“So I ended up painting her, and then I was like, ‘Why don’t I just do one a day of different women who inspire me?'”
Thus far, the collection includes Edmonia Lewis, Zora Neale Hurston, Pearl Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, Condoleezza Rice, the Queen of Sheba, Della Reese, Bessie Stringfield, as well as three women portrayed in the “Hidden Figures” movie: Katherine G. Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson.
About halfway into the month, Akuchie said she’s gotten into a rhythm.
“At first it took about two hours (to create each painting),” she said. “Now they take about an hour.”
Asked what she wants to do with the paintings once they’re all finished, she responded that she’s mainly doing this project to enhance her skills as an artist and for the mere joy of it–not for profit.
However, she may see if people are interested in buying prints of the paintings. She’s also planning on making a book for herself that has images of all the paintings, accompanied by the women’s biographies.
Most of Akuchie’s work incorporates acrylic paint. She said she especially enjoys mixed media, having learned that technique from her former art teacher at Senior High, Mindy Duncan.
Portraiture is her bread and butter. “I’ve been drawing people since I was in elementary school,” she said. “I like to capture the emotion in their faces and bring it out.”
Currently, she’s teaching portrait painting at the Mansfield Art Center. This spring, she’ll teach intermediate portrait painting and mixed media.
She has illustrated a children’s book for a client in Boston and is working on illustrations for a story that her mother wrote. She also has her own stories she hopes to illustrate one day.
She intends to earn a degree in graphic design and launch her own website that displays different art pieces she has created.
