Eyma, Ritchie

Eyma (born Nassau, 1967) grew up in Haiti in a household in which one uncle was a ceramist and another, an art student. In this environment he began to draw. His favorite places in Port-au-Prince became the National Art Gallery and the Galerie d'Art Nader. When he moved back to Nassau, his high school art teacher, Sue Bennett- Williams, introduced him to oils and acrylics.After passing his G.C.E. 'A Level' art exam, oil became his medium of choice.

With a blend of impressionism and realism, Eyma's work reflects the influences that shaped his childhood. While he often paints familiar Bahamian scenes, his dense and patterned brush strokes and raw application of paint set his work apart; his paintings exude light and depth.

During the late 1980's and early 1990's, Eyma exhibited his work at the Central Bank of the Bahamas Annual Art Competition.He also participated in numerous shows of the Longbranch Artists and Artisans Association.

In 2003, at the very first exhibition of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, one of his paintings, Fort Hill Houses, was selected by the committee.His first major show was the Minnis Family Exhibition in November 2005, where he exhibited twelve of his oil paintings alongside his wife, Roshanne Minnis, his father-in-law, Eddie Minnis, and his sister-in-law, Nicole Minnis.In 2014, he again exhibited his work with the Minnis Family at The National Art Gallery of The Bahamas in a major retrospective entitled Creation's Grace. Living and working in the Haitian community in Abaco for the past ten years has given him new inspiration. He is currently working on a project called “The Mudd Series”.

His work is included in many private collections, locally and abroad