Artist showcases works of popular figures

When Prime Minister Andrew Holness purchased two pieces of his artwork earlier this year, Nigel Easy was motivated to paint other portraits of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader and other members of his party.

On Tuesday, the 35-year-old journeyed from Linstead, St Catherine, to the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston hoping to catch the eyes of Holness and six other politicians whose image he had painted.

EXPOSURE

Unfortunately, he did not make a sale, and Easy said he is not disappointed. He said that although none of the politicians enquired about his painting, a video of him showcasing the paintings, which was posted on The Gleaner's social media pages, sent a lot of enquiries his way. "I am more than confident that I will be selling some of my pieces soon," he said.

Easy's artwork of the politicians start at $100,000. On Tuesday, in addition to Holness, he showcased other pieces portraying Education Minister Fayval Williams, Culture Minister Olivia Grange, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, Industry Minister Audley Shaw, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang, and Finance Minister Dr Nigel Clarke.

"It took me a few months to paint those because it is a very tedious job. I have to pay attention to details so there are times when I would take a break and play a game or just rest my mind then I continue," he said.

Recalling the day he got that Holness purchased his paintings, Easy said: "I went by the House of Parliament and the police officers had liked the paintings and told me to wait until the meeting was over to see if the prime minister would be interested, and he was.

"He purchased two pieces which both cost $170,000. They were paintings of him and his wife. I felt really happy and grateful that he bought them. It wasn't just about the money but to be recognised by the PM was a motivation for me."

Easy said that he had dabbled in the visual arts since he was 17 years old and was a student at McGrath High School in St Catherine.

"The first piece I did was fruit basket and the teacher said it was the best piece of the lot; however, my essay did not match up to it," he laughed. "I used to do paint like landscaping and so on, but I realise that I wasn't getting any sale for those items, so I decided to do something different."