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One of the goals of the Ethiopian Community Association in Atlanta is to encourage and promote the various talents within our local community. One such individual is Aida Beshah, who premiered her art work at an exhibit held at the Fishbone Gallery on April 27 & 28, 2001.

Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Aida moved to the United States in 1987. Aida remembers that her interest in art goes as far back as her grade school years in Addis Ababa. Throughout the years, Aida found herself sketching paintings simply for personal satisfaction, but never believed that she would some day make a career out of it. "All my current paintings are basically self taught, through experimentation of different medium" says Aida of her development process. "I must also credit all teachers and instructors in my life for providing me with positive inputs towards my creative capabilities." As her interest in art grew, Aida decided to take a few classes at Clayton State College, which helped her master the basic and fundamental rules and regulations of painting.

Aida's artwork is very diverse in method as well as in style. Although most of her work (80%) is acrylic based and on canvas, she uses other medium such as pencil, charcoal and watercolor. In terms of style, Aida's work varies from Lalibela crosses to various abstract paintings. However, the central focus of Aida's paintings is women and their internal feelings. She finds these paintings to be a reflection of herself as well as other women with whom she shares the daily joys and pains that life has to offer. Some of her paintings portray naked women with odd and seemingly unattractive figures. Aida believes that this signifies the many insecurities that women of today's society endure on a daily basis. At the exhibit, Aida also displayed paintings with vibrant colors that symbolize her own inner happiness and personality. "All the colors relate to some sort of a happy moment in my life. I started using happy colors recently, because I have found peace, awareness, and inner happiness in my life".

Aida's immediate future plans includes an independent art exhibit on September 9, 2001 at Club 1027, on Peachtree Rd. She is currently working on a website, and she eventually hopes to expand her venue into other states.