To Dry For 2012 & WOMA 2012

To Dry For had a competition to design a new tea towel for them and this was my entry:

Unfortunately my sailor* didn't win. It would have been so cool to see him on a (manly) tea towel! But, alas, it was not meant to be...
*I think he actually looks a little more like a Whaler, but "Ahoy Whaler" didn't have as nice a ring to it as "Ahoy Sailor!"

* * *

However, I also submitted my Pandora piece to Women Make Art's 2012 and it has been accepted into the exhibition which takes place in Grenada, West Indies.

This one actually means quite a lot to me: being recognised in my own region for my illustration which is very different from the aesthetic norms and typical subject matter of most Caribbean art. I believe that - having grown up in The Bahamas - Bahamian influences are inherently going to be part of what I produce in some way. But I have grown very tired of the way I see the same tired old story of the Caribbean has been told in the same old tired way: serene beach landscapes, palm trees, hair plaiting, slave faces, quaint old island living, still life paintings of Caribbean fruits.
Are Caribbean artists drawing these same old subjects in the same old way because they want to, because they are used to it or because it is what is expected of them (from outsiders who do not realise there is more to our lives than beaches, sunshine, fishing, etc)?
I appreciate that element of our culture as well, but I have no interest in being a part of that 'single story' approach.

The exhibition will run from March 31 - April 14, 2012 at the Gallery, St. George’s, Grenada.
If you're in the area, please give the show a visit. (Take photos! I'd love to see them.)

♥