Bonnie always enjoyed painting from a young age, and at the suggestion of her art teacher, she

applied to Slade Art School in London, where she was born. It was at this point that she left

England for the States. Although she took a few art classes during her senior year in college,

any artistic ambitions remained dormant for several years. She would later take art classes at

the Art Students League and Bronx River Art Center.

Her desire to create was ignited when, as a director of a tutoring program in Harlem, she

decided to coordinate an art show both in Harlem and Soho as a fundraiser for the program. It

was for the last fundraising event that she conceived the idea of creating a triptych of Young

Black Love. The first of the three paintings for Young Black Love was completed when she was

pregnant with her first child in 2003. She would go on to complete the next two paintings in

2018. In between that time she devoted her attention to raising her two sons with her husband

Kofi whilst working as a school counselor. She began to take herself more seriously as an artist

when she joined a group of talented women writers and artists in 2018 led by Dr. Nicole

Fleetwood. After her first meeting, it became clear what her mission as an artist is.

As Bonnie began producing paintings, she became fascinated by a phenomenon that started to

occur: she discovered the subjects of her paintings out in the world. She created the painting of

the couple holding hands; she encountered their real-life image on the street as she left work.

The young man that she created on canvas, his avatar, with the same facial features and attire,

sat next to her on the train. These sightings displayed a synergy that astounded her, but

affirmed her mission to paint the beauty and challenges of black and brown people in her

community.

ART BIOGRAPHY

Bonnie always enjoyed painting from a young age, and at the suggestion of her art teacher, she

applied to Slade Art School in London, where she was born. It was at this point that she left

England for the States. Although she took a few art classes during her senior year in college,

any artistic ambitions remained dormant for several years. She would later take art classes at

the Art Students League and Bronx River Art Center.

Her desire to create was ignited when, as a director of a tutoring program in Harlem, she

decided to coordinate an art show both in Harlem and Soho as a fundraiser for the program. It

was for the last fundraising event that she conceived the idea of creating a triptych of Young

Black Love. The first of the three paintings for Young Black Love, the subject of this exhibition.

Bonnie completed when she was pregnant with her first child in 2003. She would go on to complete the next two paintings in 2018. In between that time she devoted her attention to raising her two sons with her husband Kofi whilst working as a school counselor. She began to take herself more seriously as an artist when she joined a group of talented women writers and artists in 2018. After her first meeting, it became clear what her mission as an artist is.

As Bonnie began producing paintings, she became fascinated by a phenomenon that started to occur: she discovered the subjects of her paintings out in the world. She created the painting of the couple holding hands; she encountered their real-life image on the street as she left work.

The young man that she created on canvas, his avatar, with the same facial features and attire, sat next to her on the train. These sightings displayed a synergy that astounded her, but affirmed her mission to paint the beauty and challenges of black and brown people in her community.