painter muralist teacher
This bright and colorful mural celebrates the best of Jamaica, from our musicians to our athletes to our world-famous coffee. It illustrates a common Jamaican expression, “Wi Likkle but wi Tallawah’, meaning that although we are small, our impact is massive!
Prominently featured in the center of the piece is the Lion of Judah, a symbol of strength and pride, and facing him is the Doctor bird, a hummingbird endemic to the island and the national bird of Jamaica. Known in Jamaican folklore as a messenger from the spirit world, it is a fitting homage to the lasting influence of those who have built our culture over time. The juxtaposition of the beauty, speed and agility of such a feisty little bird with the noble majesty and stature of the proud lion represents the charismatic Jamaican character.
On either end of the mural coffee branches grow, their berries glistening gold and red, and behind them stretch the famous Blue Mountains. Album covers spanning the island’s musical output and layers of collaged newspaper create a rich surface over which glazes of paint glisten.
The lion’s mane is a mass of track stars, footballers and cricketers; crowning the top of the mane a victorious Usain Bolt revels in glory. The sky against which the Doctorbird hovers is a quilt of well-known songs, and the louvers that frame the scene features many of our beloved musicians. The overall effect is rich and resonant, revealing just how much this little island has given the world.
The stunning setting of Jamaica’s capital city is the backdrop for this large mural, spanning almost 40 feet in length and 7 feet high. Dominating the scene is the Lion of Judah, rising from the mountains and hills that give Kingston its unique drama and beauty. Throughout the piece, collaged images of athletes, musicians and the people of Kingston highlight the relationship between them and the rich natural environment that is their home. The cultural heritage of Reggae music that every Jamaican knows and loves is embedded in the skies above the panoramic scene, an ongoing download that’s in the heart and soul of every Jamaican.
The central panel is dominated by the Lion of Judah, his mane merging with the coffee farms of the hills. The foreground coffee branches are resplendent with berries, glowing in the lambent light of this magical majestic creature. He represents the spirit of the Jamaican people; proud, strong and swift, he has come to conquer. Crowned by Bob Marley, the King of Reggae, the Lion’s expression is calm, serene and confident. Acceptant of all that is, he is strong and fearless. Beneath his handsome face in the crest of his mane, Usain Bolt stands on the world stage in his iconic pose, the fastest man ever born and a beloved superstar of speed.
The right panel looks out over the city and to the Caribbean Sea. Our athletes dominate the foreground, proud ambassadors, living examples of teamwork and sportsmanship. A hummingbird hovers over a tangle of coffee bushes, within which a collage of Carnival girls and a troupe of dancers emerge.
Above this scene and throughout the triptych a sky of grays presides, a tactile surface of soft vertical columns suggestive of rain and mist, typical of the cooler weather of these hills. Within these columns are Reggae and Ska artistes from over the decades, together forming a timeless cultural download that all Jamaicans receive, a collective consciousness and communal memory that unites us in a love of the music that’s in the very air we breathe.
The far left panel features the hills and mountains where the famous coffee is grown. The view is from Strawberry Hill, the Irishtown property owned by Chis Blackwell in the foothills of the Blue Mountains. Founder of Island records, Blackwell is the Jamaican music mogul who brought Bob Marley, Grace Jones, Jimmy Cliff and a host of others to the world. His Strawberry Hill property celebrates our colloquial architecture and hearkens back to a time of gracious living. Now operating as a hotel and restaurant, it is a popular retreat for many, locals and discerning visitors alike, looking for something special. In the foreground its garden of lush tropical plants fringes the view, looking out over mists to the Soldier Camp at Newcastle and the steep banks of coffee farms, and beyond the mountainous interior the distant North coast sea shimmers.
River Mumma, or River Mother, is a mermaid in Jamaican folklore who lives at the fountainhead of every river. She is the guardian of the waters and the animal and plant life within them, and her magical protection flows around every island’s coastline.
In this piece at Starbucks on Falmouth pier, she swishes her twin tails across the Caribbean Sea, bringing life to the antique maps in the form of a host of butterflies that extend off the board and float onto the wall. Here they flutter along floating waves of coffee branches, painted in soft cappuccino browns and whites, and amongst which a solitary emerald hummingbird flies.
River Mumma carries a coffee branch abundant with berries and flowers in her hands, an offering of Nature’s gifts to the coffee drinkers in the café. Alighting on the branch is a pair of Giant Swallowtail butterflies, a rare species endemic to the island, and beside her a Doctor Bird hovers, Jamaica’s national bird. The island of Jamaica is a central feature of the piece and is inscribed on an ancient scroll that unfurls near the top of the painting.
River Mumma’s tail begins as a river, clear fresh water flowing over a riverbed of underwater plants, and leads to the sea and a school of leaping dolphins. Here her tail meets up with sailing ships from the Old World, connecting the mermaid with the history of the region, and Falmouth in particular, a significant port in the days of Jamaica’s history.
This reference to the past is continued all around the border, where prints of sea monsters and mermaids, maps of the Caribbean, engravings of butterflies, fish and island people set the historical scene for visitors to the port.
A compass in the Jamaican colors with the country’s flag as its center is placed to the left of the island of Jamaica, and to its right a glowing full moon creates a halo around the head of our beautiful River Mumma, casting a glow over the sea and illuminating the scene, a light that shimmers throughout the work on flakes of gold and silver leaf.
This mural was a result of a nationwide competition launched in 2007 to find and select an artist to create a large work of art for the Donald Sangster Airport in Montego Bay on the north coast of Jamaica. The intention was to welcome visitors with a flavor of the island of Jamaica as soon as they landed, and to present the unique beauty of this tropical island in an immediate and friendly way.
Displayed in the main Arrivals corridor, its 80’ length tells a story as the visitors walk alongside it. Composed of a series of cameos of Jamaican life, it stretches from coast to coast, traversing the lush interior of the island that depicts farming communities and rural life, and ending with a scene of musicians playing Reggae music under a tree.
Taking over a year to complete, it began with the artist traveling around the island with a camera and a sketchbook gathering images, and finished in a warehouse in downtown Kingston before being installed in the airport. The foreground features scenes from Negril to Duncans Bay to Treasure Beach; in the background are the plains of St Elizabeth and the hills of the interior.
Ireland is a beautiful country, and there’s so much inspiration to be found for landscape painting As the land of my birth, I feel very comfortable taking off with a carload of oil painting supplies and pitching wherever the light takes me, preferably down a remote track with only birdsong and the occasional passing cows or sheep for company. The West of Ireland is particularly breathtaking, the barrenness of it allowing for freeness with the brush, but Wicklow on the East Coast is known as the Garden of Ireland, and that it is, very lush in comparison to the west. The challenges are the cold, the wind, the rain, the rapidly-changing light, and finding a good spot to park and set up when the beauty is crying out to be painted. Plein air painting in Ireland range from being highly frustrating to joyously fulfilling - never a dull moment to be sure…
Jamaican fruits and foods are a constant source of inspiration, their colors and shapes an exciting challenge.