It was not until the late 1990s that “modernism” began to appear, particularly in the work of two Vincentian artists Caroline “booops” Sardine and Robert Joyette. Graduates of Jamaica’s Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts (“booops” also studied at the British Royal College of Art), both have chosen to once again make St. Vincent their home. Since the 1970s, a quite different art scene has been developing “down island”. Year by year, from the UK and USA, from Australia, Canada, Belgium, France and beyond, artists “from away” have made the Grenadines islands their home, if only for a while... Nora Birmingham, Melinda Parke and Claude Victorine who painted on board, on shirts and on silk, Patrick ‘Doc” Chevalier renowned for his colourful paintings of fishes and Palm Island’s reefs, scrimshaw artist Sam McDowell whose paintings hung at Athneal Ollivierre’s old Whaling Museum as did his wife Donna’s Sailors Valentines. Painter Peter Carr whose early ‘sepia’ drawings of Bequia’s harbour life were actually coffee on paper, Caroline Porter who established the Crab Hole silk-screening studio (the screens worked today by the Whaleboner out at Spring), Mike Goddard and Maggie Mitchell who created the enchanting Spring Pottery and Studios out of a ruined sugar mill (today their venue is the Cinammon Studios at Cinammon Garden), painters and mixedmedia artists Julie Lea, H. Muller, Pinky Vaughn Richards, L.D. Lucy, Anna Landry, Steve Winsborough… and the list goes on. Whether these artists painted quietly at home or opened their studios to the public, they all helped foster an image of these islands as a place where artistic endeavour flourishes and where visitors and homeowners can readily find quality artwork. And whether they shared advice or materials, brought paints and art supplies from overseas, hired assistants, mentored, sponsored or simply inspired, they contributed to the community’s understanding that art is a respectable and viable way to make a living and to what is now a lively arts and crafts scene with a rich variety of work by Vincentians. Today’s waterfront in Bequia is lined with homegrown artists and craftsmen eager to add their work to this thriving tradition. Some people have taken a more active role in fostering and promoting Vincentian work. On Bequia, painter Julie Lea, whose watercolour classes at Sugar Reef bring the joy of art into many a visitor’s life, helps source and distribute art supplies from the USA and shares her skills too with children at the Learning Centre, Paradise Primary School and the Fig Tree reading club. Volunteers Lila Roo and Nick Larson from the US founded the New Roots group for children of Paget Farm and spend their winters leading visual and performing arts projects. Artist L.D. Lucy who 15 years ago was facilitating local arts and craft fairs under Port Elizabeth’s almond trees and encouraging her husband, a retired fisherman, to make model boats, now curates Bequia’s Oasis Art Gallery and Gift Shop where “everything you see here is made here in S.V.G.”
“All art made in SVG” is the mandate of the Oasis Art Gallery & Gift Shop in Bequia
Vincentian artist Robert Joyette Photo courtesy Oasis Art Gallery
Whether these artists painted quietly at home or opened their studios to the public, they all helped foster an image of these islands as a place where artistic endeavour flourishes and where visitors and homeowners can readily find quality artwork.
Australian painter Peter Carr’s early ‘sepia’ drawings of Bequia’s harbour life were actually coffee on paper Photo reproduced from Peter’s book, “Bequia, a Feast of Color” www.mango-art-studio-bequia.com
On Bequia, resident artist Julie Lea offers watercolour classes in the relaxed seaside setting of the Sugar Reef Café Photo: Christine Wilkie
Ins & Outs of St. Vincent & the Grenadines 17