Art on the Rocks at Fieldstone Center, Conyers

Posted: 8:51 PM May 11, 2011 - Rockdale Citizen
The new Art on the Rocks Gallery at Fieldstone Center shop combines art gallery, antiques, and thrift store.
Sandy Poynter-Harvill sits on one of the chairs painted by local artist Maxine Cook, amidst other art work by Cook, at her recently opened business, Second Chances Antiques and Collectibles and Art on the Rocks Gallery, located at 990 Green St. in buildings that formerly housed the Fieldstone Center rock business.
Reporter: From staff reports

The Grand opening for Art on the Rocks was Friday, May 13 celebrated with wine and cheese. The setting for the art gallery is a former rock business that has been turned into an art gallery and second hand shop. It is a beautiful setting with several rock fireplaces and rock wall fountain. They also provide classes in various artistic skills. This is an awesome new venue for artists of various disciplines to display and sell their arts.

Art on the Rocks is located at 990 Green St SW, Conyers, GA 30012.

Mamadou Diakite - African Artist

Join us in welcoming an exciting new artist to our family today - Mamadou Diakite, Diakart Studio, Decatur, GA. We are delighted to add his unique artwork and style to our Portfolio!!

Here is a snapshot of Mamadou's biography from www.africanart.com
Born Jan. 1, 1956, in Yako, Burkina Faso, West Africa, to parents from the republic of Mali, Mamadou Diakite was interested in art, particularly in drawing, from a very early age. After attending the center for agricultural training in Samanko, Mali between 1973 and 1977, Mr. Diakite found his genuine vocation: painting.

A self-taught artist, Mamadou Diakite moved along this new path with great enthusiasm, settling in the Ivory Coast in 1978 to further his artistic knowledge; there, he developed new techniques in different media, including modeling, paste collages, and the use of sand.

Following a long period of research and experimentation, he created his unique style: a three-dimensional art combining painting, modeling, pasting, and sanding. Mr. Diakite's specialty is created witn raw and hand-worked materials from Africa, such as wood dust, natural sand, pieces of hand-woven cloth, traditional necklaces, and decorated calabash fragments.

Little by little, Mamadou Diakite and his new style became known and appreciated by the public and art experts of West Africa. In Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, and Ivory Coast, his early art was honored in numerous exhibitions. His early exhibits included:

1984, cup of Africa nations, Ivory hotel, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
1985, exhibition 85, chamber of industry of Ivory Coast, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
1987, Festimask, mask festival, Yamoussokro, Ivory Coast (here, Mr. Diakite was elected general secretary of the Ivory Coast artisans National Union)

In 1990, Mr. Diakite returned to Burkina Faso and became a member of the Intl. Assn. of Plastic Arts for UNESCO, Ouagadougou. Following a period of intense creative activity, he was exalted in national and intl. Exhibitions.

At his exhibition in the French Cultural Center of Cotonou, Benin, Mr. Diakite's art was noticed by the American consul who helped him obtain a visa to promote his work in the U.S. In 1993, Mr. Diakite embarked upon the journey to Washington DC. His work has been shown at the Alliance Francaise, the Smithsonian International Festival, among others. Currently he resides in Maryland and is one of the area's best known African plastic artists. In 1997, he created the African Fine Art Foundation, a non-profit organization that will promote African artists and education of African art forms.

Mamadou will continue to display his work throughout the world and develop new projects, and welcomes visitors at his studio.