Chapter 5: The Artist
375 Words
Chioma's other passion was art. She had been painting since she was ten, creating images
of bread and markets and the people of Lagos. She painted in the early mornings before the
bakery opened, working in a small studio above the shop.
Her paintings were good — really good. But she did not pursue it seriously. Art was what
she did for herself, in the hours before the world woke up. The bakery was what she did for
others.
One morning, a woman came into the bakery and noticed Chioma's paintings. She was a
gallery owner named Ama, with sharp eyes and the kind of confidence that comes from
knowing good art.
"These are yours?" Ama asked, pointing at a painting of a woman kneading bread, her face
full of concentration.
"Yes," Chioma said. "But they are just—"
"They are beautiful," Ama interrupted. "They are more than beautiful. They are honest.
Would you ever consider showing them? I think people should see these."
Chioma laughed. "I am a baker, not an artist."
"You are both," Ama said. "I can see it in these paintings. You understand something
about creation that most people never learn."
But Chioma was afraid. She was afraid of failing as an artist. She was afraid of dividing
her attention again, of spreading herself too thin, of losing the one thing she did well.
She said no to Ama.
But Ama did not accept the no. She came back to the bakery repeatedly, bringing people to
see the paintings, telling Chioma that she was wasting her talent, that she had something
important to say.
Finally, after months of persistence, Chioma agreed to a small show. Just ten paintings.
Just two weeks. Just to see if people cared.
The show was a success. People came. People bought paintings. People wanted to know
more about this baker who painted bread and the people who made it.
Chioma stood in the gallery looking at her own work and realized that Ama was right —
she was both things. She was a baker and an artist. She could not choose between them. She
could only find a way to do both, to let one feed the other, to understand that creation took many forms.
- Writer
