Introduction

My name is Jade, spelt without a Y (Jayde) and is not short for Jadesola. From that you may be able to guess that I am Nigerian. I am of Nigerian heritage, but am born and bred British so have adapted two cultures into one lifestyle. Creativity is something that inspires everything I do and is all around us, sometimes we don't realise it nor realise the things we have been influenced by but it is there. Being creative is a main aspect in my life and something I have taken more from one side of my culture (British influence) than the other (Nigerian). When I was younger I wanted to be a doctor, but soon realised sciences were not for me. Being a doctor, lawyer or engineer is more along the lines of a career which is normal within an African/Nigerian culture rather than to "study art" and be "taught how to use a paintbrush" as some of my relatives may say; finding it perculiar that I want to do something that I could do with my eyes closed, or do using my hands to spread paint across a piece of paper. But what they fail to understand is that for me it is more than that, being creative and doing art is my way of life, though that may change as I get older but for now it is this. Art is a way of being open and expressive as well as it being something I am good at. Unlike sciences or maths - which would have allowed me to go down a more traditional root of a subject Nigerian's were familiar with young adults studying at university. But for me art is what I love; which many fail to understand in addition to there being money in industitries that are less traditional in form and function. These adults lack to understand what the future holds and there is more in a room than just what the naked eye see's. For now this is who I am and doing an art foundation at Ravensboune this year will allow me to explore this further.