The medium of Clay is as old as the earth, you can’t get any
older. Clay was used to make many functional objects associated with food
preservation in the time of the Amerindians such as the monkey jars and coal
pots.
Clay vessels such as deyas were
made for religious rituals and ceremonies like Divali, the Festival of Light.
Clay was also used as a binding material to construct tapia houses.
Creativity with a particular medium comes from an artist
having a natural affinity or skill with that medium. I am more creative with acrylics than water
colours, I can use both but I am just much more comfortable and happy with
acrylics. However I was taught to use all different types of medium to be able
to teach technique to my students.
Teaching is a two way
street,
as a teacher I pass on knowledge
and technique and students return the favour by responding to the teaching and
surpassing my expectations.
One of my
past students, Thomas Haskell came to visit my school last week, he was a
student who I can say I taught him two dimensional art and I in turned learnt
about three dimensional design from him. He definitely had a gift for working
with clay; he started off working with polymer clay and is now most comfortable
with different types of clay. Thomas is currently studying for his masters in
ceramics at OCAD.
Thomas’s visit was indeed a pleasure to see him passing on
his creativity and skills to younger students. He worked on the potter’s wheel
and the 4 and 5 year olds were enthralled in very much the same way as the 15
year olds later that day. You can always tell how skilled a craftsman is by how
easy they make it look. Mastering a potter’s wheel takes a lot of practice
especially when you want to create a unique piece of pottery.
Photography preserves memories of images from the past. Light is one of the most important elements of
design in the art of photography. Effective use of light creates the illusion
of depth, contrast in value and texture as well as mood and atmosphere. Creativity
in manipulating composition and lighting insures a memorable photograph. Globally renowned photographers like Yousef
Karsh and Annie Leibowitz were creative at mood and atmosphere whilst Dorothea
Lange had creative compositions. 
In Trinidad we have bright natural light which means taking
photo is best suited to early and late in the day. The diverse subject matter available to Trini
photographers allows them to be very creative in their compositions. A
photographer’s dream world is the diversity of cultural activities, architecture,
natural landscapes and foliage all found in Trinidad and Tobago. So the creativity
of photography is much more than a ‘selfie’, it is the art of capturing a
moment in time and making it memorable through effect use of the elements and
principles of design. 
At 81 years old Dermot Louison is still avidly painting. His
current exhibition at Horizons Art gallery showcases 42 acrylic paintings on
canvas board. This body of work is shows the creativity of this artist in the
wide selection of subject matter ranging from seascapes to animated back yard
scenes. His effortless use of colour ranging from harmonious colour schemes
that contrast sharply with bold dark almost black tones makes these paintings
full of vitality.
A lot can be said of the mark you leave on this world and at
81 years old Dermot Louison’s creatively
scrawled signature says he is definitely making his mark and he obviously has
more to say.
