Born in Nassau (Bahamas) in 1967, Ritchie Eyma grew up in Haiti in a household where one uncle was a ceramicist and another was enrolled at L'Academie des Beaux-Arts. The various artistic activities around him soon began to influence him so much so that his favourite places to hang out became the National Art Gallery and the Galerie d'Art Nader in Port-au-Prince.
His first attempts at creating art were stenciled comic book characters with coloured pencils. Then there were those watercolors that bore the mark of a fruitful imagination and the influence of local artists. When he moved back to Nassau in 1982, his art teacher Sue Bennet-Williams at C.C. Sweeting Senior High School introduced him to oil and acrylic paints. After passing his G.C.E. 'A Level' art exam, oil became his medium of choice.
During the late 1980's and early 1990's, Eyma showed his work at the Central Bank of the Bahamas Annual Art Exhibition and Competition. He also took part in several shows of the Longbranch Artists and Artisans. After about a decade of serving fulltime as a volunteer worker of Jehovah's Witnesses in Bible education, he resumed painting in earnest. In 2003, his painting "Fort Hill Houses" was selected for inclusion in the inaugural exhibition of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas.
Since 2005 Eyma has been exhibiting with his wife Roshanne, Nicole and Eddie Minnis (Minnis Family). In 2014 he participated in the Minnis Family Retrospective Exhibition where a wide cross-section of his work was displayed. He and his wife now reside in Marsh Harbour, Abaco (Bahamas) where they share a studio and are actively involved as volunteer Bible teachers in the Haitian community.
A blend of impressionism and realism, Eyma's work often reflects the influences that shaped his childhood. While the subject matter is generally taken from Bahamian life, there is often this special touch which reminds the viewer of his Haitian roots. His original paintings can be found in galleries and private collections locally and abroad.
