Artist Angela Ming-Bean like many others was inspired by Africa?s landscapes and her people for her first solo show.

Her exhibition will open on Sunday at the Lighthouse Tearoom, Southampton, as part of the Bermuda Showcase 2006.

Many of Mrs. Ming-Bean?s works she said, are strongly influenced by her African heritage, but she also has an appreciation Bermuda?s beauty and this is reflected in many of her paintings, which show everyday scenes.

Over the years, the former art teacher has been busy raising a family and her work has rarely been seen except at the Dockyard Craft Market.

She has taken time off from teaching to follow her dream of concentrating on her creative side and has more than managed to bring together a huge selection of work for a show.

Although this is her first time showing her work, it was natural for her family to create art.

?I remember my mother used to paint for us,? she said. ?And I remember going to school and I thought it was normal that people painted, but I went home and told my mom, these children can?t draw.

?But when you?re little you think that whatever happens in your house is right. It was only when I started school that I realised that everyone didn?t do that.

?My mother used to make things out of seashells and sand, and my dad made things out of cedar and mirrors. That?s how I remember my childhood ? everyone making stuff.

?I have been painting all of my life, it is in the blood I guess. I remember when my daddy would take me around to his friends and say, ?do you want to see my daughter draw? So, I had to draw for his friends.?

When looking for a place to exhibit, she went to the Bermuda Society of Arts to inquire about having a show there.

?I am a member of the BSoA and I have been trying to exhibit in City Hall for a number of years,? said the poet Sharla Bean?s mother.

?I keep going back and I keep trying. But this time when went up there Deirdre Furtado (of Bermuda Artists Showcase) asked... if I would be interested in exhibiting with her in February.

?I feel that something spectacular is going to happen and for me to go to City Hall and just meet Deirdre that day. I had been searching for a long, long time and the saying sometimes you have to jump before the net appears so I jumped?

Many of her paintings were inspired by the images she saw in Ghana last summer. ?My favourite one is of a little child carrying a baby on its back,? said the mother of four daughters.

?You saw that a lot and children as young as six and seven would have a baby attached to their backs. So, that was an image that really stayed with me.

?Another thing that stayed with me was people making things and here there is a picture of a woman making something from cowry shells. Then you saw young people and preteens walking through the traffic with things on their heads trying to sell you stuff as you drove along.

?People carried everything on their heads from a sewing machine to a plank of wood.?

The faces looking out of the portraits are of people they met and when describing one of them she said: ?This woman was a part of the naming ceremony when we all got our African names. Mine is Komasexe, which means one who works hard for a living, and it is really true.

?When you look into their faces you see a lot and you just want to talk to them to find out their story because a lot of them have some pretty interesting stories.

?My favourite thing to paint is people?s faces, because they say a lot and no matter how much a person is smiling, if they are sad you can see it.

?While there, I took 3,000 pictures and they are on my laptop.?

When asked, why Ghana above all the other African nations?

She said: ?I am going to get all philosophical here ? I believe that my purpose in life is to have a voice for all of my ancestors that were thrown off the slave ships, for those who endured all sorts of atrocities and I feel that I don?t want them to have died or to have been mistreated in vain.

?People like Harriet Tubman and others sacrificed for us and I feel that should never be forgotten. It is not a matter of being racist, but when I try to uplift myself as an African, people say that you are prejudiced, but I am not prejudiced and I don?t hate anyone, but I do hate what was done to our people.

?When I read about slavery I really do cry because as a mother I can?t imagine what it would be like for someone to take my child.

?And the truth has to be told not only about slavery, but about the credit that is due to us and all the history books with misinformation that they are still teaching our children.

?I hope that my artwork is a small contribution to the plight of the African people. When I started reading about African history I started to feel so sick and I thought that the best place for me to deal with is to do something, to give them a voice, and to show them how much we appreciate where we are today because of their sacrifices ? they were people who had courage to do what they did.?

Some of her work features Bermuda scenes and she said: ?I don?t have a beautiful garden or a view of the ocean, but if I go somewhere and I see something that I like, I can just take it.

?You are told that you can travel when you read, but you can also travel in art too.?

While in Ghana they travelled between small villages and Accra. In the villages she said the beats from the djembe (drum) rang out throughout the night and this was either in celebration life or death.

?Sometimes the person was dead for two or three months, but they are still having celebrations of the person?s life,? said the Bermuda African Dance Company member. ?Also every village had their own dance steps and they would pull us up either to dance or to drum. We sort of went from village to village dancing and drumming, visiting the craft shops and meeting the people.

We stayed in Accra for a while, but mainly we were back and forth. Africa was one of the most extraordinary places.

?It is a beautiful, beautiful place, but they are very oppressed. There are people that we were trying to get to come and visit us because we bring in visiting teachers, but they couldn?t get a visa. They would have their ticket and at the last minute they wouldn?t give them a visa. It is a human rights issue, they stop them from taking advantage of opportunities in other parts of the world.?

They also visited Elmina Castle, which was the last place in Africa that many of the slaves had seen before being shipped to the Americas.

?It was worse than all the books I had ever read on slavery because you are standing right there,? she said.

?I couldn?t stand up properly after I left the castle ? I was physically sick for two days after I left there. I wanted to go to the other castle, but I just couldn?t ? although I think I need to go.?

Although some of the experiences were quite shocking there were some experiences that were entertaining.

?In the hotel we stayed in the cook, the waiter, the maid and the barman was all the same person,? she said. ?The guy would be fixing our breakfast in the morning and then he would go upstairs and clean our room.?

Although she made the decision to give up teaching, she said: ?I really miss being an art teacher and the children tell me that they really miss me too and I do really miss them.

?But I feel to myself, that as a part from recognising who I am and honouring my ancestors, it is nothing more important than freedom and to me getting up and making 8.30 every morning was not freedom. ?And can you imagine being in the same place everyday? I would think I am here again. I am here on Monday, Tuesday, I am here January, February, 2005, 2006 and I started to feel like I was in prison.

?I am not irresponsible, but I like to be where I like to be, when I like to be there and I like to be doing what I like to be doing. So, I know that I need to be a person that works for myself, I am not lazy.

?Since since I left my job I get up and I paint every single day and being an artist my work is not flying off the shelf like I would want it to, but I am striving towards that.?

Her aim is to leave behind works created in love, with feeling and expression.

?I am hoping that I will leave behind a legacy,? she said. ?I like my work and sometimes I paint a picture and a couple of months later I might not like it. I don?t like every piece and there are some pieces that I do get attached to.?

The medium she mainly used was oils and three of the paintings were created with acrylics, which was something she previously painted with.

?I used to use oils, but then I?d get really bad headaches from the fumes,? she said.

?But I decided that I would buy some oils and the fumes today are not as bad as when I used them in high school. I used the oil paints and it was like heaven and I have noticed the difference between using oils and acrylics and I say, ?wow, I like using them again?.?

But above all, she just loves to paint and has done all of her life.

?I paint every and anything and a lot of times it is depends on the mood that I am in,? she said. ?If I feel crazy, the painting might look crazy, if I feel happy then and if I feel sad ? it all depends.?

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Her show opens at the Lighthouse Tearoom on Sunday evening and remains up until March 19. For more information visit www.bermudashowcase.com.