THE CRAFT DNA
IN THE DNA make-up of possibly every Jamaican, there is a similar characteristic – creativity. Jamaicans are known to make the best of every situation, ‘tun wi han mek fashion’; they work relentlessly to ensure their skills and talents survive, often doing so with their hearts and soul.
In Ensom Acres, a community on the outskirts of Spanish Town, you will find Dr Verona Barnes, an art teacher and craft producer who has dedicated her time and life to the arts. Her experience in the classroom spans over 45 years, serving in various capacities such as art teacher and examiner for visual arts.
Barnes is the perfect example of the concept, ‘if you do what you love, then it doesn’t feel like working’, since she has managed to enjoy the art and craft world through teaching.
“Although my art-making activities are done on a part-time basis, I enjoy helping my students to engage in the creative process. It helps them to develop and enhance their creative, innovative and imaginative geniuses. This provides a deep sense of gratification for me,” she says.
Like most artists, her blood is rich with imaginative energy flowing through it, and it would seem as if her skills were realised from the moment she left her mother’s womb.
Barnes was a young girl when she started in fashion, thanks to her mother who was a seamstress. She continued to hone her skills while attending St Andrew Technical High School, where she learnt more about clothing and textile, and got the chance to practise putting her thoughts on fabric.
Barnes continued on to university, where her skills in textile design and fibre were unearthed while enrolled at the Jamaica School of Art, now the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. She later pursued a Master of Arts in Teaching at the Maryland Institute College of Art, which is when she really got the chance to improve her textile and fibre arts skills.
She now lives a life that is consumed and fuelled by art, and states that she are mostly inspired by Jamaica’s local flora and fauna.
“The Jamaican flora and fauna is useful for the surface design process, and I am also drawn to African textiles, especially works done employing the dye-resist methods, such as tie and dye and batik. Some artists I look up to are Faith Ringgold, Elisabeth Scott, Aminah Robinson and our own Jamaican batik artist Dawn Scott.”
This lover of art and craft even goes to the extent of purchasing plants, particularly orchids, due to their colour longevity, to fully immerse herself in the natural art. To get her creative juices flowing, Barnes visits and revisits the flowers to admire the intricacy of the petals and the vibrancy of the colours. She then transfers the inspiration received from flowers on to fabric; her secret, she says, to create top-notch items is to work at night-time when there is peace and quiet, and little possibility of interference.
To create her breathtaking pieces, Barnes has a preference for certain types of fabric. She employs the use of yarn, silk, wool and natural fibres to create her beautiful work. But this is not without challenges as the material can be hard to source, and she states that certain media, such as fibre arts, require much dexterity and the techniques can be time-consuming.
Notwithstanding, Barnes has kept the faith, and feels her creative skills heightened when she visits galleries and museums to view exhibitions. Although craft has its down side, Barnes remains true to her work and displays an admirable love for the arts.
“Textile has an impermanent nature, which I love. Also, the malleable characteristic of the fibres and fabrics with which I work, lend themselves to the artists to be able to explore and experiment with a range of manipulative techniques.”
Barnes’ proudest moment that encouraged her to carry on was in 1999 when her work was displayed in the Young Generation Exhibition at the Mutual Life Gallery. The piece, titled ‘Everyone needs protection’, was a tie-dye map of Jamaica, embellished with miniature crochet hats. The piece was later bought to be given as a gift to people of Haiti.
Barnes’ biggest dream is not for herself but to witness the fruits of her labour. Whereby, the persons who are gifted with the art skills, or those who receive training in the workshops, courtesy of organisations such as the Tourism Product Development Company Ltd, will have pride of place in the Jamaican art and craft industry; producing and selling art and craft products that are of the finest quality.
“This (art and craft) should bring about the ‘erasing’ of the labels that are now being seen; to make way for the signature brand/labels boasting ‘Made in Jamaica’. Art and craft has to do with human creativity. I am not referring to the cookie-cutter products, but those works that reflect imagination, innovation and dexterity. We, the creators, are actually exposing our inner being. Therefore, we would like for others to show an appreciation for what we create.”
This innovator and celebrator of fine craft reminds us, in the words of American football player and coach Vince Lambardi, that “every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it. Autograph your work with excellence”.