Simone’s YFE Art Gallery fixed back up!

It’s been almost a year to date that Hurricane Paloma hit our small island and we are just now getting ready to re-open NIM Things. Got my father to paint out my gallery where my great uncle lived in after the hurricane but has since moved back to his own fixed house.  The shell mirror is for sale and was done by local artist Teresa Tibbetts.

Salt Water Pond!

Salt Water Pond – South Side – Cayman Brac – A bird sanctuary!

Yellow Bird!

Rock Garden!

Display at UCCI Brac Opening in 2008

Mrs Ryan’s Sand Yard

While my entry into the McCoy Prize 2006 was rejected the National Museum did buy it for their collection.

The tradition is to go ‘bac’ sand from the beach and sand off your yard. Leaving it looking all white and pretty like snow.  The conch shells and plants act as decorations.  This painting was done on site as I sat in my car in Mrs Ryan’s gravel drive way.  Mrs Ryan must be in her 80’s but one can still see her out there in her Sand yard garden either sweeping up the leaves or bending over picking up the falling mangoes or using the gallon bottles to water the plants. 

I have ordered postcards of this painting and they should arrive soon.

2007 at Nelson Gallery

Other Commissions

Long Beach Commission

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.caymannetnews.com/2005/07/870/sister/iguana.shtml

Brac Trust member and local artist Simone Scott designed and executed the colourful signs

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grand living for a year and a half!

Not so much of living Grand in lifestyle as to living on the island of Grand Cayman for a year and a half.  For the first two weeks I lived on a pull out couch at my cousin Jillians. Then for the next few months I rented a place next door at Governors harbour with my cousin Dionne and her little baby boy. Spent some afternoons at Seven Mile Beach right across the main road.  Not a large place but nice enough as it was a bedroom which was hers and a living room which was converted to my bedroom, and we shared the bathroom and kitcken.

This scene was painted from a sketch I did of a family enjoying the Easter Sunday after church hanging at the beach. Added some items that were not there and included some of the actual sand into the acrylic paint for the beach. SOLD

  If I count the first two weeks then I lived at four different places in that year in a half with the final being at Ocean Club with another cousin Sherry and her daughter Donna.  I worked at Kirk Equipment the whole time except for the last two months of my stay in Grand, which was spent working at the newly formed Craft Market at what use to be thatch hut style restaurant.  Due it was just starting out and the ‘qinks’ had not been worked out with tour buses etc it became evident that I would not be able to stay financially in Grand working at the market.  It was a placed that I really loved working at because of course I was doing the thing I loved best, job wise, ‘my art’. I decided it was best to move back home to the Brac for a bit as I was still paying off combined car and land loan so really needed something that paid well if you also consider rent, utilities, food etc. etc. Perhaps if I had been able to find a place to lodge for free but most of my family and friends down there are working people like me and need to charge rent for spear rooms they might have to help with their house/condo loans etc.  At anyrate it all worked out for the best.  Sometimes things that same bad is just God’s way of closing one door and opening another. 

One thing I wish I had not done while in Grand Cayman was to accept my cousin Jillian invitation to be one of the three core members to  revive BracCanal.  Her idea was to get together with the participants of Grand and take them over to the Brac for a colorful filled parade which would get kids involved in costume making etc.  It was indeed stressfull and we did have fun at times putting it together but it was also a drain on our pocket books as we dug into our pockets to pay huge phone bills etc that was related directly to the parade.  Getting sponsors, arranging everything on one island to be conducted on the other island, lunchtime meetings etc was also very time consuming and running a little late to get back to work took a strain after a while. Of course all this while on medications that left me struggling to complete normal work hours. If the parade had carried on in the fashion of that first year in 2002, all about costumes and having fun I might have volunteered again from the Brac side of things but since then it’s only become about partying and drinking.  Even the schools have pulled out from being part of it. Ugh! too bad! too bad! James commented to me after a nasty email went around due to my reaction to what it has become that it was my payment for my sin of having revived the thing. I guess he might be right after all that has happened.