They say a water colour painting is like the flutter of a butterfly. Sam Ovraiti seems to have captured this flutter and turned it into a series of mesmerising colours, patterns and rhythms. Ovraiti was born in 1961 in Zaria, a factor which may have influenced his predilection for northern landscapes, drovers and milk maids.

He schooled at Hussey College, Warri and James Welch grammar school, Emevor. In 1979 he enrolled at the Federal Polythechnic Auchi for an OND in general art. He returned to Auchi in 1981 for his HND in painting training which he completed in 1983, along the way winning the Fasuyi prize for best student in painting , the Principal's Certificate of excellence and the first prize , Mobil National Painting contest. After his Youth Service, Ovraiti worked as a guitar instructor at the College of Education, Warri before joining the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi as a lecturer in painting and drawing.

He remained there till 1983 by which time he had gained a reputation as the most expressive water colourist in the country. Why has Ovraiti become one of the most respected and imitated water colourists in the country? One reason would be because he taught a sizable number of today's water colourist leaving maybe an indelible mark on their style. A more important reason may well be the seductiveness of his works. Many artists have tackled the water colour medium; few however have let the medium breath through them. That may be Ovraiti 's greatest skill - the ability to not control the medium but instead to speak the language of the medium, letting the medium dictate the artwork. The result is rarely true to life. . Rather it is a purified, beautified reality. And that may well be its attraction, its ability to invite us into a simpler, more peaceful reality - an escape from harsh realities.

One of the early cubists talked about the artist not expressing reality as the ordinary eye sees it, but creating his own reality and challenging the viewer's idea of reality. This purified scenes and people may be the world as Ovraiti sees it . It may not be the world as we see it, but it's definitely a beautiful reality.

As Ovraiti is always quick to point out, he is much more than a water colourist. His oils express a different aspect of his art - a more complex side, more layered side to his world view. . He might be less quick to point out that he's more than an artist. He's also a facilitator, constantly taking budding artists in his wings and helping them find their voice. In 1993 Ovraiti went back to school , to the University of Benin, for a Masters in Fine Arts. Today he works from his studio in Lagos. He still plays the guitar. And he still does those water colours that'd put a butterfly to shame.