‘So much things to say right now’
PATRICK BYLES is relentless in his pursuit of raising the understanding, profile, and brand of Jamaican art and craft. He is a man living with a powerful, driving vision for a nation made strong because of the natural talent and creativity of its people.
He dreams in vivid, bright colours using history, culture, the environment, and natural resources as inspiration. His works capture scenes depicting unique aspects of Caribbean life and are reproduced on wood, ceramic, canvas, fabric, and paper and are sold as posters, trays, coasters, and mugs. His distinctive style assisted in creating a brand for Jamaica that can be identified anywhere on the world stage.
Patrick Byles, however, is sure that at almost 90 years young, he still has much to teach about the business of art and craft.
He is greatly concerned that Jamaica is missing tremendous opportunities on the global stage by not investing more in training artisans how to “manage” their talent and teaching them how to identify market trends and to produce not only on inspiration, but also based on needs.
“Art should communicate meaning and should be a part of our everyday living. Art is to be used to enhance our daily lives, create harmony and peace, and a particular style of Jamaican-ness that people in turn will seek out.” Art, he states, “Should be transferred on to everything from calendars to cushions. It should be on the empty zinc fences, on the busses, ingrained in furniture. Our citizens need to have a nurtured appreciation for art in order for the artist to realise financial rewards for their efforts. We ourselves must respect the value that art brings to our own quality of life and humanity before creating art as objects of desire for others to purchase.”
Today, Patrick Byles still has much to offer young artists on the road to being professional. His journey has been long and eventful. He successfully transferred from artist to artisan to graphic artist to entrepreneur to advertising executive and businessdevelopment consultant. He has many awards and accolades, and, being an avid and fastidious collector and researcher, he has amassed a formidable collection that any library would be envious of possessing and many from overseas are trying to acquire.
The cultural industries travelling on the many transmission media waves is how nations have given information about their identity. What are we saying about ours when we represent ourselves and our stories through our talents?
Jamaica is rich in knowledge and experience, rich in talent. We are also rich in confidence. The difficulty, therefore, seems to be finding a strategic direction and unified approach at any one time to create the necessary impact for such a broad base of creative energies.
It is time for our artists and artisans to reap our own rewards by telling our own stories – put on our own labels, our names to utilising our art and craft as well as our music and dance and positively strengthen our own identities through our own experiences and interpretations.