“A friend of mine, Sarah Beckwith, had an ad from the Cape Gazette and showed me. She said, ‘Why don’t you try out for this?’” Obuseh said. Lewes resident Becky Forney was another friend who prodded Obuseh to enter the contest.
Obuseh has painted for years; it’s something she has always turned to in times of stress.
A 37-year-old mother of two and a medical technologist at Beebe Medical Center, Obuseh was born in Tanzania. Her father is from Uganda and her mother is American; although she traveled the world as a child, her formative years were spent in New Guinea. “I’ve always thought of that place as home,” she said.
When her mother grew homesick overseas, Obuseh’s family moved back to the United States in the mid-1980s, relocating to the Atlanta area.
While living abroad, Obuseh recalled twisting together “beads for life,” medallions made from tree bark that are strung together to make necklaces. Obuseh said making beads is significant to her because they are a symbol of the many Africans who’ve died of AIDS, including her own cousins.
Still, her first love is painting, which she took up in the United States. While a biology student at Georgia State University, Obuseh said she painted as a way to relieve stress during grueling exams.
“That’s been one theme constant throughout my life: my art,” said Obuseh. “Some people read romantic novels. I paint. In almost every painting is a final exam,” she says, with a faint laugh.
Obuseh is soft-spoken and calm. She wears colorful head wraps and native African prints, some that recognize certain holidays.
Today, Obuseh lives at Dover Air Force Base with her husband, Capt. Francis Obuseh, a Nigerian-born American serviceman whom she met while living in Georgia. Since moving to Dover, she has been busy testing blood in Beebe’s laboratories, raising her two children and painting.
One day, while Obuseh was working in the laboratory, she said many hospital representatives started to gather around her.
“All came and crowded around me. I thought we were having another meeting. Next thing I know, Sue Early came and started giving her spiel, right there in the lab,” said Obuseh. Much to Obuseh’s surprise, film festival director Sue Early announced Obuseh was the winner of the poster competition, her work selected from among 12 other artists.
“Reel Treasures,” created specifically for the competition, is done in oil and acrylic paint and features old film loops flying off the page. Obuseh’s 9-year-old daughter, Ayomi, helped her mix the colors.
Obuseh says she is steadily acclimating to the Cape Region. She calls her daily drive from Dover to Lewes “the flight.” Coming from the South, she said she was pleasantly surprised to find Southern hospitality so far north, in Delaware.
One of her favorite places is Cape Henlopen State Park, where she regularly takes her daughter and her 4-year-old son, Kiyem..
“I love it: the waves, the breeze. It’s peaceful. The waves come in, and it’s vibrant,” she said. “I love seeing the lighthouses and the lighthouse pictures everywhere. In fact, I may start painting those.”
She said her selection for the cover of the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival program marks a new artistic success.
In the past, she has not wanted to part with her paintings because she became attached to them, as one might to a child. Her recent recognition, however, has spurred her to look at her work differently. “I would love to see one of my art pieces in everyone’s beach house. They’re naked unless they have a Batenga,” she said.
