My friend is raising money to produce a new kind of coloring book. Visit https://www.gofundme.com/gelegirls to show your support. Here is his story.

My Story

My name is Chukwunonso Ofili, and for the past 5 years I have been making art in Houston, Texas. My art reflects my life story. For a long time, I was self-conscious about my work, because it was unusual to most people. I grew up in Africa. Nigeria to be exact. When I came to America, I was very shy about expressing myself through my art because it seemed foreign to most people. In 2013, some college friends and I started making funny skits on YouTube about being a Nigerian in America. I found out that the videos resonated with so many people who felt like it gave people permission to also express themselves and who they are.

The Gele girls has always been a personal obsession of mine. When I was a little boy growing up in Nigeria, I loved seeing the women wearing them at church. The designs were so beautiful and diverse. I appreciated it as an artist, an African and a man. It was unfortunate to me that gele is slowly becoming something that people only wear on special occasions and for the many Nigerians in the diaspora the tradition is dying out all together.

I began sharing my Gele girl artwork with friends, on Instagram and made them into posters and t-shirts. On April 20, 2017, I held my first Gele girl art exhibition. I found that when people see the diverse spectrum of human beauty, it frees them to be more of themselves.

This project

The idea for this coloring book came from the desire to see more people experience that same freedom. The imagery in the book showcases a vast array of African print, and women of all shapes and sizes. The African fabric patterns, which are so intricately designed, make it possible to be extremely creative when adding color to produce unique and vibrant outcomes every time!

I believe that for anyone who is a fan of good artwork or expressing themselves through coloring, that it can be truly rewarding to work with such a creative canvas as a woman wearing African clothing.

Some ways I think people can use this book include:

· Fun activities for parties

· Thematic images at culturally-themed events

· Therapeutic activity for stress relief

· Decorative posters for your home

· Educating others about diversity and body positivity

· Relaxing activities for get-togethers

· Individual colored images make great framed gifts

· and so much more

Funding the Dream

Launching a coloring book can be a challenging task. The work does not end with the drawing of the images. There is still work to be done in the form of:

· Printing costs

· Marketing

· Editing

Your generous gifts will make the difference between making this book launch a huge success versus releasing a subpar product to a handful of people.

Why You Should Support

If you believe in the power of art to change lives and free people, then this is a worthy cause to support. And for your generous gifts we have some rewards for various levels of giving.

Visit https://www.gofundme.com/gelegirls to show your support.