Trail of tears

Nunna daul Isunyi

High mountans over the land of our fathers

were good to die

1838 Tears from my people

Singing "Amazig Grace" untill the end.

Saving the native future on the way to Oklahoma

Tony was partial Cherokee on his fathers side and was interested in all things Native American. His brother Bill found in Blythe,California a bunch of black and white pottery shards, older than black and white shards known before. He often felt unaccepted by other Native Americans, being rather fair skinned. He cherished his history however. This painting is a mixed medium: oil and pastels. He has done many other paintings about The trail of Tears. This wonderful drawing is in Antwerp, other pieces are in the USA.

Tony Mafia

Antwerpen 1983

Muziekdoos

Zo lang geleden
Tony was my friend,and has been my inspiration ever since we shared a life in Antwerp with Tommy
and Sonja,Robin Rowley, Mieke and Eric, the two Ingrids,Vivien, Fidler John, Callum, Paddy Tinsley,
Vera of the mural wall, Frederica and the kids......the nights at Etiene's "Muziekdoos", the Billekletser
where I cooked, Dave Greerley, Scots Greg.......six memorable years on another planet, zo lang
geleden...........

As I now tell of that time to my teenage daughter, she finds that whacky world all hard to believe.
She trawls the Internet and returns yelling "it's all true, I found Tony Mafia" I am indebted to her I.T.
skills to help me with this blogpost.

I heard of Derrols death on the radio just a couple of years ago, and of Tony's just last night.
For those of you who are still out there - please contact me -
mike@thegreatyokshiredragon.com
I am one of a team that run a mad venue in Hull, come visit www.facebook.com/hullboathouse

Mike Stone
This nice drawing is from 1982, pen and ink, Antwerp
It shows the buskers, with banjo, flute
The text reads: Just a bit more shit, but I must start somewhere...

Mother and child

Watercolor, Antwerp, 1983
Flowers and field...

Guapa de Anversa

Found where she was lost
Waiting for you
in tenderness and blue


Oil 1992, painted in the Kloosterstraat.

End of Romance

Tony was an artist with a restless soul.
Whenever he was confronted with challenges and setbacks he found consolation in his home country.
Every time he left he had to say goodbye to a lover and this was food for his creativity and work.
This painting shows the unbearable pain and sorrow of saying goodbye.

Oil painting 1983, Antwerp, in the distress of a break up

For a friend

Double piece on paper, mixed media.
Antwerp 1987.

can you see

Give me death and a dragon then my eyes can close,
I give this and all of yesterday careing.
Can you see.
Antwerp 1982
In that period Tony painted a lot of 'Punks'. Anything visually different would stimulate his mind and lead to new pictures. Death was a constant companion in his thoughts, not only because of his heart disease, but also because of his experience when Shanghai fell WW II being there with the merchant marine as an able bodied seaman.