AWAAL GATA poses six questions to Billyhadiat Taofeeqoh Adeola, an Ibadan-based teen writer and painter, on her arts and dreams
How did you start writing and painting?
When I was younger, I was often quiet because I had a very low self-esteem. Writing was the ‘antidote’ that didn’t let the words I bottled up in my head blow my head off.
I hated speaking out so bad that I most times conversed with people in my head. That is why I can list many things about people I have never spoken to.
At home, whenever I got into a fight with my little brother and my mom asked us to explain how the fight started, I would not even bother to talk because he was very eloquent. In few seconds, the oppressed will become the oppressor. but when it was my turn to explain how the fight started, I either becamme short of words or I burst into tears and everything would end with a ‘sorry’. It was so painful. To express myself, I started writing to my mom. I would drop a letter where she would certainly see it.
As I grew older, my love for writing grew stronger, and I got interested in essays and not just writing to my mom. Then God brought Ridwaanullah Idowu Abimbola my way. He saw it in me that I love writing, therefore gave me topics to write about every week One day, he told me to participate in an essay competition.
I reluctantly wrote and and submitted. Months later , few days before my 15th birthday, I received a call from The Crescent Schools, Victoria Island, Lagos, that my essay won a prize. I was shocked. I was happy. That is how I embarked on the journey of self- discovery.
For painting, I can’t remember how exactly it started. My grandfather had this very big shelf filled with Islamic books; I was always fascinated by the design patterns on the books. Especially the Arabic calligraphy. Any time it was a beloved’s birthday, I would make birthday cards for them.
At nine, I got my own room, so I made a lot of designs for myself and pasted them on the wall. At some point, I was using red lipstick and eye pencil . Then from that, I started using marker. From that I started using pencil
And now all I use is a pen and sometimes a pencil.
What do you want to achieve with writing and painting?
With my writings, I want to be heard and to be read. Nothing more. With my drawings,
I don’t want to achieve anything. I just wanted to draw and feel good because it is meditative. But now, I am thinking about sending some samples to some textile factories, get a good printer that will print them on T-shirts, sneakers and bags. And since it’s meditative, maybe when I get older, I will have something like an art studio where people can come in the morning or in the late night to drink some tea and meditate either by drawing or by staring at the drawings. I don’t know whether I am dreaming too big.
What books did you mostly feed on when you started?
To my Sons and Daughters, 50 Candles to Light your Paths, by Dr AbdulKarim Bakkar; Don’t be Sad, by A’id Al-Qarni; Healing the Body and Soul, by Amira Ayad; Diary of Anne Frank; Milk and Honey, by Rupi Kaur; and The Sun and her Flowers, by Rupi Kaur. The list is endless.
How often do you write?
I write every day. Sometimes it makes sense, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes, a line, two or maybe three. But I make sure I write every day.
Are your parents supportive of your writing?
Yes, my parents are very supportive of my arts. They didn’t tell me not to do it because I am a science student. They tell me “It has been long I saw you draw, why? Do you need more papers?” I have very supportive parents.
What challenges do you face as a teen artiste?
The environment is not encouraging in a way, but that is how almost everything is in Nigeria. If the environment was friendlier for creative people, we would thrive better. I do have writer’s at times, which is a big challenge whenever it comes. Some days I won’t be able to make any poetry or zentangle or mandala or doodle. It can be really annoying. But on those days, I don’t force it. Instead, I become the poem, the zentangle, the mandala and the doodle; I become the art.
