Join artist Nengi Omuku as she guides you through the process of painting a “Bird of Paradise” plant using acrylic paints and oil pastels. The workshop emphasises creativity without pressure, encouraging you to freely explore shapes, colours, and textures. The session includes step-by-step instructions for preparing the canvas, blending colours, and drawing the plant’s elements, all while highlighting that there’s no right or wrong approach. By the end, you will have created a vibrant, personalised artwork to brighten up any space.
Materials:
• Paper
• Acrylic paints
• Paintbrushes
• Flower printout (download below)
• Palette (optional)
• Oil pastels or chalk pastels (optional)
Nengi Omuku is a visual artist born in Warri, Nigeria, and splits her time between Lagos and London. She completed her BA and MA at the Slade School of Fine Art, London. Her work, characterised by expressive paintings on traditional Nigerian Sanyan fabric, explores the intersections of the body, nature, and cultural identity. Her art has been showcased internationally, including at Dulwich Picture Gallery, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and Hastings Contemporary.
Omuku and Hospital Rooms have enjoyed a longstanding collaboration, with Omuku contributing to numerous projects over the years. Most recently, she completed an installation at a new hospital site in Norwich inspired by hot air balloons—symbolising freedom and lightness. This piece was showcased during Hospital Rooms’ 2024 summer exhibition at Hauser & Wirth. In 2018, she was commissioned by Hospital Rooms to paint a mural in a psychiatric intensive care ward for women in London. Inspired by her work with Hospital Rooms in the UK, Omuku established a charitable organisation, named Ona Iwosan (The Art of Healing), which brings art into mental health settings in Nigeria.
TAOH’s first mural project, launched at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, is set to be completed in 2024, marking a significant step in bringing contemporary art into mental health care across Africa.
