A recent post circulating on Facebook gained much recognition for landscape painter Micheal Chatargum. The post featured a painting of the majestic Kaieteur Falls from a wormhole view, unlike the bird’s eye view many of us have come to adore. This new perspective created a more captivating image of the single-drop waterfall.
Micheal was born in New Amsterdam, Berbice and grew up in Quakers Hall, Mahaicony. He attended Bygeval Secondary. “I was always fascinated by the mixing of colours and using different mediums, and to be able to paint my imagination. I’ve always loved and appreciated art,” he said. He was in the art stream and later wrote the subject at the Caribbean Examination Council.
He wanted to be an artist from a very young age, but life did not go as planned. Micheal is a recovering drug addict and this week marks eight years, four months since he has been free from drugs. He admitted that it was a struggle, not only was it difficult to escape the addiction, but taking up art took twice the effort.
Micheal began doing art seriously five years ago. What got the ball rolling again for him was when an old friend of his needed a backdrop for an upcoming show he had called ‘Raagas and Rhythms’. Micheal asked him why not paint the backdrop. This paved the way for Micheal to pursue his longtime passion.
The Kaieteur Falls painting was done from a photograph a friend took on a trip. He has never been to Kaieteur but is looking forward to the day he is able to do so. But he does not plan on going the usual route; instead he wants to see the falls from below which means he has to take the more difficult route of getting there by boat.
The Kaieteur painting is just one of his paintings of waterfalls in Guyana. To date he has done some 20 paintings. During his interview with The Scene he was working on his biggest to date a 6’x4’ of Mount Roraima. This painting, the artist said, took him three full days of work which he did over the period of a month at night, since he has a regular job as the manager of Maharaj Palace Restaurant. While he spoke, his brother and another relative were fitting the painting into a frame. His 7-year-old niece, Neepa, looked on. She has an eye for art and would sometimes be allowed to brush a few strokes. She pointed out a particular painting of a blue heron on which she helped to fill in the colours using chalk pastel.
One particular work of his, he shared, was done on a piece of cardboard. “One day I was sitting, and I had nothing to do. There was this lovely piece of carton box. I took a knife and I cut one side out of it and was thinking what to do with it and there I saw coals on the ground. I picked up a piece and started doodling and I ended up creating a whole landscape out of that. I gave it to someone who framed it and took it back to Canada,” he said.
The artist said that from the time he started painting five years ago to today, he has improved on his talent tremendously though he still believes there is room for improvement.
Micheal had studied for a year at E R Burrowes School of Art some 15 years ago, but he is basically a self-taught artist. Much of his technique was learnt from looking at art tutorials on YouTube.
His inspirations are local artist and sculptor Winslow Craig along with Phillip Moore, then others like Pablo Picasso and Michelangelo.
Speaking about his challenges in the art industry, the man said that materials are hard to come by when looking for quality stuff. Many of his materials he would have friends bring with them when they are coming from overseas. Some he has to order online. Art for him is a hobby and seems as if it might remain so in the near future as it is not well appreciated in Guyana, forcing artists to do art as a side job. He does hope however that someday he gets to do this full time right here while touring more of the hinterland areas so as to see more of the country. “It’s hard to market your painting. It’s very difficult for an artist to compete with street artists who would make more of mass production art where they would sell for cheaper. They do not always use the same medium that you would use. Their work is mediocre and after three or four years their work would start to fade,” he claimed. Most of work is done with a special kind of oil paint though he also uses acrylic, pastels and charcoal among others.
While his work is in different parts of Guyana, in Canada, the US and Suriname, Micheal has only ever sold one; another painting of Kaieteur Falls which he sold to a woman in Suriname.
He has shared his work on social media and received good comments, though he still does not consider himself to be an artist. His wife, he said, is his biggest critic and supporter, along with other family members. They would sometimes sit and watch him paint. His mother, too, is one of his strongest supporters. “My mom, my mom. My mom is an amazing lady. She has supported me from birth to today. She has never one day let me down. I have taken her to hell and back. She never one day left my side. All the blessings that I have and who I have become today is all because of her,” he said.
“If you plant a positive seed, you can only reap a positive fruit so if you think positive, you will grow positive and you will live positive. If you allow [obstacles] to keep you back, you will always stay down. There’s only one way to grow and that is to keep moving,” Micheal said in a bid to encourage aspiring artists.
Asked if he could meet anyone, dead or alive who would it be and why, Micheal shared with a hint of sadness and regret, “There’s a man who was called Pandit Shree Prakash Gossai. He died a number of years ago. I would love to meet him so that he can see where I am today. During the time I was [battling] a life of drugs, he used to counsel me so much to be a better person. It was after he died that I changed my lifestyle. If I could have meet him again, I would show him where I am now. He used to say the happiest thing for him would be to see me change and he didn’t get that opportunity.”
In his free time, Micheal likes to fish and hunt. He likes eating Thai food and his favourite colour is black, he later corrected himself saying that black is not a colour but is considered neutral.
This evening Micheal will be exhibiting several of his pieces along with his Kaieteur Falls painting at the Wine and Art: Reinvented exhibition at the Umana Yana. The event is hosted by the Rotaract Club of Georgetown Central and begins at 7 pm.
Micheal sometimes posts his work on the Burrowes School of Art Facebook page or on the Kaleido Arts Facebook page. He can be followed on Facebook at Micheal Chatargum.
