Recap creative workshop: Painting Koko Yoko

Beside organizing workshops myself, I love attending creative workshops of others on the island. You’ve might remember the concrete one, the crochet one and the rope one. It’s all great fun and you get to do something with your hands and even get to know new people.

This time I attended the workshop of Omar Sling, who’s a visual artist, and has done awesome work on the island. One of the smaller things he’s doing is making the KoKo Yoko’s. That is the sound (in our native language) of what a rooster does in the morning. These roosters are made of gypsum (or plaster, what ever you’ve like to see it). As an artist, you’ve got to be creative to paint every one of this roosters with another look and that’s what the workshop was all about: Be your own creative artist.

The workshop was in his studio in his backyard. I took my lovely intern Jill with me, so she could experience the loving local people of our island. And indeed, it was a mix of old and young, men and women, kids and adults, all there to get creative with their roosters.

We were welcomed by his lovely wife and it was such a cool afternoon even if that they was one of the hottest day. What made it cooler ofcourse it that he lives on a hill and has a great view of the island. So the wind was also present that day.

What I really love about Omar is that he always has a big smile on his face and is always very positive. So, you can imagine how positive he was with every and each rooster that was painted. Giving everyone a good feeling that even if you’re not a painter, you can be as good as the one sitting next to you.

Every table (or group) got their own explanation on how to paint and how to hold it when painting. He gave us some techniques on how to paint birds for example.  And even though it might seem simple, it actually is pretty hard if you’re not a person that draws with the hand a lor or even never. I was sitting at a table with a family of just perfectionist in their hands. The oldest son was a bit bumped at the beginning, because he didn’t like how he’s flower was coming out.

People, when I saw the flower, I asked him if he saw my painted rooster. It was just a colorful crisis. He did so well on that flower and I loved how his parents told him not to give up and just start on the other side with something new. And so he did and the outcome was beautiful.

Jill didn’t know exactly how to start, but eventually she got the drive and her rooster just looked  colorful organized. My rooster, I have no shame to say, looked very, what’s the right word?! Let me be kind to myself and see next time it would look better.

The above was the father sitting next to me, so you can imagine why the son wasn’t feeling his flower. This is truly a workshop to relax yourself and even get hotwings to go afterwards. The vibe was fun, very local and just a good surrounding. This is great to do with a group of friends, family day out or even a celebration you have.