Local artist from Nigeria brings his talents to Strathmore!

20 year old Artist Semiloore has only been in Strathmore for four months with his family, but he's already making himself and his art a part of the community!

Semiloore came to Strathmore from the Nigerian capital of Abuja. Abuja has a population of over 1.2 million people, with the metropolitan area being estimated at over 6 million. It's been an adjustment coming to Strathmore, but so far he is enjoying the quieter, small town life.

"It's a nice town, the people here are nice, so that's cool," he said.

Semiloore is a photographer, and he is bringing his unique style of art to Strathmore

"My art style is something I like to call dream realism. The way I see the world is... I see the world in colours, I see interesting compositions everywhere I go. My mind is always working like taking photography, even if I'm not actually taking the picture. So my art is basically me trying to introduce that dreamscape, that world in my head, that imagination, I try to bring it to reality."

"Shoot for the Moon" by Semiloore

The above photo "Shoot for the Moon" was taken in Strathmore at Westmount Elementary! While his pictures have a unique and beautiful aesthetic to them, you'll notice that some of them are scenes you may see in your everyday life. This is because Semiloore grounds his art in realism.

"Although it has a dreaminess to it, it's still grounded in reality. So that's why I call it dream realism, because I look at the world in a very childlike, dreamy way. But also I realize with something like photography you cannot make it look unrealistic, it's just going to look fake, so I want my art grounded in realism."

"Vintage Times" by Semiloore

Since his art is based on realism and his perspective on life, this sometimes means his photos are taken in the spur of the moment, like "Vintage Times".

"I travelled back to my hometown and we were driving past this church and hospital and I was like 'I really need to take a picture before this car passes' so I had a few seconds, 5 seconds to take a picture, and it came out good, I was just glad that's how it came out."

Semiloore said that he also does portraits, and if you're interested in getting portrait photography done by him you can reach him on his cellphone at 403-325-2787. You can also reach out through his Instagram, where you'll see a lot of his other work. He added he's also happy to just discuss art and photography and meet new people, so you can reach out to him if you're also the artsy type that wants to share your passion with a fellow artist!

Send your news tips, story ideas, pictures, and videos to news@strathmorenow.com