Anansi and the Market Pig (glossy cover)

Spider is a crafty guy in stories across Africa. Sometimes, he plays tricks on people and gets away with it. Sometimes, the tricks backfire and there is a lesson to be learned. It this particular tale, Spiders goal is to get his new market pig across the creek and to his home. Its a task easier said than done.The first spider stories that I gathered were when I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Liberia. At the time, I never thought about the very same stories coming on to the New World with slaves from Africa. Of course, that happened.This tale was inspired by a trip to Jamaica that was meant to be. My mural project was delayed several times, but it just had to happen. Spider tales brought from Africa to the New World have a special place in my heart. And, Ive learned that people of all ages enjoy a good story.When I painted two murals with the United States Embassy in Jamaica, I had the very good fortune of being teamed up with Greg Bailey, a Jamaican artist and professor from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston.Greg taught a muraling class at the college. I came to share with his students how my murals have taken me around the world. During that session, I told this Jamaican tale with his class as well as a spider story from my days in Africa. It appears that my stories are as successful with college students as they are with elementary students. Perhaps its how I tell them? Afterwards, the college art students joined Greg and me in painting two community murals in the Kingston area. It was a wonderful introduction to a tropical island that I had somehow missed in all of my world travels. And, when I think of Jamaica, I have the warmest feelings to accompany that tropical sunshine.