NELTON FISHER AND THE MYSTICS

The island of Jamaica is home to an abundance of talent within the musical, performing or visual arts. The versatility and innovative talents among the local population is evident when strolling through craft markets and art galleries. Keep your eyes open, and you will meet some of the realm’s most unique characters in your very midst. Among these gifted personalities is painter and individualist Nelton Fisher.

A visual artist who today is able to make a living from his art, Fisher’s journey began in humble surroundings and led him along a rocky path which continues to be bumpy to this day. Born in Albert Town in 1965, Nelton grew up with his grandparents in the parish of Trelawny. The separation of his parents early in his young life permanently scarred the artist and even now, his eyes get watery and his voice full of emotion when he talks about his childhood.

Perhaps because Fisher never benefited from the stability of a family unit or financial security, the artist believes that the order, routine and guidance of a functional family is the most important factor in the proper upbringing of a child. However, Fisher is also convinced that the testing circumstances, in which he grew up, made him who he is today. He explains; “I was a very shy child, and I am still not at all eloquent. There is no way I could speak in front of a crowd of people.” And it is evident that Fisher is still an introvert. He marveled during our interview; “I’ve never heard myself talking so much, how come I am doing this?”

Fisher’s career started at the age of 13, when he attended the Anchovy Secondary School. There, he met the recognized Jamaican painter Errol Allen through his artistic classmate Phillip Higgins. Another self taught local artist, Allen quickly recognized Nelton’s potential. Recalls Fisher: “I was never good in math. When I got frustrated, I made ducks out of 2s and a line below it would become the water of the pond.” He adds: “I began to see things with the eye of an artist and turned calculations and formulas into scenes.”

Determined to get him painting, Allen took the young Nelton under his wing and began to nurture his talent. Thus, the boy who had to send himself to school by selling tie-dye t-shirts, was taken into the circle of artists. Remembers Fisher: “People called us ‘the mystics’ back in those days.” He explains that at that time, the average Jamaican was not very interested in art. “People did not understand why we were painting and how we looked at things in a different way.” But yet, they were recognized as the specialists in the unfathomable field of the arts, and so, they were labeled “The Mystics”.

Looking at the dreadlocked Fisher, one would quickly stamp him as a Rastafari, but even though he believes Haile Selassie to be divine, the artist is still in search of what he calls ‘reality’. Explains Fisher: “I always feel the need for prayer and was an active deacon in the ‘Church of God 7th Day’.”

The Fisher family has always produced talented musicians, including Nelton. With a grandfather who was a singer and a father who plays the bass at Burchell Baptist Church, Fisher’s three grown children have all inherited the gift of music. Says the artist; “My children are blessed with great musical talent.” Nelton’s son Sanoy, who appeared in the local talent competition ‘Rising Star’, currently works with musician Beres Hammond in Kingston while his daughter Anisia is a singer at Coral Cliff in Montego Bay. His other daughter Tashara has put music on the back burner in exchange for a steady job.

Although Nelton masters all mediums, he does not specialize in a particular one. Describes Fisher; “I started out with crayons, which I like to use very much, but acrylic paint is my favorite.” His art is full of surprises and emotion, as seen in one of his masterpieces, the self-portrait ‘I Cry’. The canvas portrays his face on a black background and exhibits so much pain that it almost hurts the beholder. Once a part-time art teacher at Maud Mcleod Secondary School, Fisher’s style can be dubbed ‘semi-abstract’. He explains; “I work from the back to the front. I start applying paint and, sooner or later, I have an epiphany as to what I am painting.”

Some of Nelton’s work was recently exhibited at the Ritz-Carlton in Montego Bay, and the modest artist’s pieces are somewhat of an insider secret among art lovers such as Michele Rollins and local families like the Delissers and Delgados. In 2003, the Chinese Ambassador and former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson were presented with some of his pieces as gifts. Nelton’s hope and aim for the future is to bring art closer to the ‘regular’ people. He says; “Art is always appreciated by the upper class who usually knows, understands, appreciates and is able to afford art. There is value in bringing art closer to the man on the street.” Continues the artist; “Art changes the way people see things, even their attitude.”

A man with a great heart, Fisher seems to look at people’s experiences from all different angles. Let us all hope that his dream of having a home with a gallery, art and music studios will soon become a reality.

Nelton Fisher’s art is available at Saba Art Gallery on Fort Street in Montego Bay (tel: 940-1011), the Gallery of West Indian Art in Catherine Hall Montego Bay (tel: 952 – 4547, galleryofwestindianart.com) and at Bohios at Fairview Shopping Centre in Montego Bay (tel: 979-8767). You can also contact Nelton Fisher directly by calling 868-6654.

THE MASTER OF LIGHT AND SHADOW

With rich colorful hues and heavy brush strokes in oil, pastels, acrylics and his favorite water colors, Errol Allen is the ‘Master of Light and Shadow’ portraying the Jamaican way of life. Described as ‘a man of many styles’, the talented artist does not have a set style or medium.

If you are on beach vacation in Negril, you might be lucky and bump into one of Jamaica's most prominent artists, capturing the landscapes, seascapes, still life form and the everyday ethnic scenes surrounding him with his paintbrush.

Born and raised in Granville near Montego Bay, Errol’s extraordinary talent came to light as early as the age of 3, when he was drawing on pieces of card board together with his cousin on a Sunday evening in 1964. “I drew a fireman and a cowboy,” he remembers.

Attending Granville All Age School in 1968, the painter recalls; “I did not understand what my teacher, Ms. Medley, meant, when she put me in front of the class and told the other children that ‘we have an artist in our midst’”. Once his talent became common knowledge, the burgeoning artist quickly became the school’s designated chart and sign artist.

Since Errol was also a good student and singer, it was widely thought that he was possessed by spirits; ‘Duppy deh wid you’, accepted by Jamaicans as the most likely reason someone is talented at many things. “Despite quite a bit of envy, I became a real celebrity in school,” Errol remembers.

Although born into a family of artists, his mother and father did not take young Errol’s work seriously at the time and wanted him to learn a ‘real’ trade, such as tailoring or carpentry. He remembers: “When my mother saw me drawing, she often hit me on my fingers and said: ‘Stop the foolishness!’”

Born with an extraordinary gift that no school can teach, it is a good thing that Errol did not follow his parent’s wishes, or Jamaican art would have been cheated of his genius. When the revered artist Phillip Higgins introduced Errol to another of Jamaica’s famous artist; Lionel Walker, in 1975, the aspiring artist knew that all he wanted to do in life was paint. Handed a paint brush at Lionel’s workshop in Negril Beach Village, now Hedonism II, Errol impressed everybody with his immense natural talent and later, Jamaican master painter, Barrington Watson, also became his mentor.

Inspired by French Impressionist painters such as Manet, Renoir, Monet and Pissaro, Errol embarked on extensive studies of various art-forms, while observing the artistic styles of other famous artists, such as Rembrandt, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Van Gogh.

Errol says it was an honor to be commissioned by the Jamaican Government in 2002, to do a portrait of ABC television talk show hostess Starr Jones for her 40th birthday celebration in Jamaica. Engaged in several local and overseas xhibitions, he sells his work to collectors from all over the globe, explaining; “It is the wealthier class Jamaicans who have come to value my work.” But he is not a man aiming for great recognition; “People need to humble themselves. Vanity is the root of all evil nowadays,” says the spiritual painter.

Although a Rastafarian by heart, Errol states that art is his true religion. He believes deeply in the bible and frequently quotes from it, stressing: “I am not here to praise man; it is the almighty who incites me. I have to give thanks to him. Every time I paint, I communicate with him first.”

The devoted family man has even named his children after artists and biblical figures, one of his sons carries the name of Rembrandt Picasso Allen and one of his daughters the name Rhianna. Errol looks at every scenery, object or person with an artistic eye and says that he works continuously, and is often inspired by the music of Bob Marley, Garnet Silk and Luciano.

His magnificent pieces are displayed in several art galleries, such as Saba Art Gallery on Fort Street in Montego Bay. Tel. 940-1011. You might also meet Errol at Negril’s Whistling Bird Beach Resort on Norman Manley Boulevard, where he is the resident artist. Other exhibitors of Allen’s fine art pieces include the National Gallery of Jamaica, The Jamaican High Commission in Toronto Canada, and private Galleries in London, Africa and New Jersey. 

It is with great sadness to have learned that 'The Master of Light and Shadow' has passed on on August 2, 2012. 

THE ARTISTIC GIFT OF ROY BERNARD

Jamaican visual art comes in many forms; the brightly colored façade of a house, a creatively designed shop or directional sign, a lone graffiti on a city wall or country fence or colorful pieces or intuitive art in one of the island’s many art galleries. Many locals are in the possession of incredible talent, whether self taught or trained at renowned institutions such as the Edna Manley School of Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston. Some artists, though seemingly at a disadvantage, shine in their own special way. Meet exceptional painter and sculptor Roy Bernard.

BY HEIDI ZECH

Upon entering the Saba Art Gallery, I find a smartly dressed man with short hair, glasses and a million dollar smile, who is stretching out his hand in a friendly hello. A different kind of interview object, 44 year old Jamaican painter and sculptor Roy Bernard has had to learn to hear and be heard in an alternative way and we quickly establish communication through good old pen and paper and signs.

Born deaf and mute, Roy and his sister were raised in the small district of Orange near Montego Bay by their mother Yvonne. It appears that the happy, laid back country life and the setting of a small, loving family created the perfect environment for Roy to learn to live independently.

I point to a question on my note pad to find out how Roy discovered his love for art. Writes Roy, “I was a kid that always loved art.” Wanting to give her disadvantaged son a good start, mother Yvonne kept her faith strong and worked as a housekeeper in the Ironshore area to be able to send Roy to the St. Christopher’s School for the Deaf in Brown’s Town, St. Ann. From the ages of 6 to 12, Roy learned sign language and other essential subjects and discovered his talent and love for art. Luckily allowed to develop his love for art, Roy shows me his Grade 5 yearbook, pointing proudly to the line ‘Roy is very neat in his appearance and his work. He has shown exceptional ability in art’. The page also shows some of Roy’s novice sketches, revealing that he started his career as a visual artist with pencil, crayon and watercolor, painting faces, cars and buses.

At the age of 24, Roy got what he considers to be a big break. Somehow, his mother managed to send him to the Edna Manley School of the Visual Arts, where he developed his artistic skills further. A karate green belt holder, he folds his hands and looks up into the sky; his way of telling me that he is religious. In fact, after 4 years of Bible study, he is a devoted Jehovah’s Witness.

While Roy works with acrylic, oil paint is his preferred medium, although he expressed his dislike of the paint’s speak for fumes by wrinkling his nose. His style is clear and simple and sometimes bears the characteristics of cartoons, which made him the perfect artist to illustrate the walls of the ‘Kids Club’ at the Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort in Rose Hall. Painting from what he describes as a photographic memory, his works bear titles such as ‘A Day in the Field’, ‘At Sea’, ‘Coconut Vendor’ and ‘The Future’, which is a portrait of a woman holding a young baby. The artist has also painted an outstanding piece of the fastest man on Earth, Usain Bolt.

Roy expresses the fact that one of his pieces was given to the Bishop of York by the St. James Parish Council as a great honor, but his distinctive works of art themselves through exhibitions at the Retreat Guest House in Falmouth, the Tryall Club and selected art galleries.

When I ask if he is married, Roy vigorously shakes his head and points to a bare ring finger, smiling. Who would have known that this literally quiet man is a fantastic cook, not shy of doing housework and even built parts of his mother’s house all by himself? However, Roy is not satisfied with what he has achieved so far in life. He has thoughts of moving back to Kingston, so that he can advance his art to an even higher level and create a solid living. I look at him in awe, reflecting on just how much this gifted artist has been able to achieve, despite his challenges of not being able to hear and speak.

Roy’s artwork can be found at Saba Art Gallery at 3-5 Fort Street in Montego Bay, tel: 940-1011. You can reach Roy directly by sending a text message to 885-2271. heidi@jamaicatourist.net.