Artist Andrea Rohlehr is something of an all-rounder creating beautiful jewelry, tie-dyed clothing and flawless faces with make-up artistry. At an event dubbed Upmarket, which was held at Queen’s College in December, her jewelry fascinated so many patrons that most were sold.
Andrea’s fashion label is Anniebinks, which was the childhood nickname given to her by her grandmother.
Andrea currently resides in Alberta, Canada. She first left Guyana in 1977 but returned here in 1994 to live. However, she subsequently returned to Canada in 2009 and has lived there since. In Guyana, Andrea resided at several communities including Burnham Drive, Watooka and Schoonoord.
She began making jewelry in 2014 as a hobby. “I’ve been doing art since I was a child,” Andrea told The Scene. “My mother sent us [Andrea and her sister] to art lessons. If we showed any interest in anything creative, my mother fostered it… I learnt how to sew at an early age. I also took piano lessons… When I was growing up, Guyana was rich in culture and Guyana still has a good culture. But, when I was a child Guyana had a lot of exposure to foreign entities. We had a lot of foreign artistes coming to Guyana.
“You know my mother met Stevie Wonder when he was young? My mother used to like to wear Chanel N°5 perfume and he said to her, ‘I can’t see you but you sure smell good.’ My mother worked at Radio Guyana then, so she met a lot of people who came to Guyana.”
Andrea who dabbled in dance while attending Mackenzie High School spoke of dancing for the opening of the National Cultural Centre in 1976.
Her life, she added, was always surrounded by art. She recalled an aunt who was a cake decorator who always came through for her birthdays. She remembers a few of them being nursery rhyme cakes. “I’ve been exposed to creativity all my life,” she noted.
The artist explained that while these days clothing available is readymade, back in the day, everyone went to a seamstress. She recalled coming up with her own designs even at a young age requesting that the seamstress sew them.
Subsequently, she became fascinated with makeup artistry and has been a makeup artist for more than 20 years. During this time, she was a Mary Kay beauty consultant. While living in Guyana, she also worked in pageantry and was the designated makeup artist for a number of commercials including a Banks DIH ICEE advertisement and one for King’s Jewellery World where she did makeup on singer Timeka Marshall. She noted that all of her artistic ventures were self-taught. These days she flexes this skill on herself and relatives.
When Andrea began making jewelry in 2014, in one night she made 36 bracelets. Shortly after, in January 2015, a memorial service was being held for her father who had long passed away. The event also served as a family reunion and she distributed the bracelets to relatives, who swooned over them. Andrea laughed as she reminisced, noting how much her talent has evolved since then; those bracelets, she said, were just basic.
Customers are so in love with their pieces that if they ever get damaged, instead of getting a new bracelet elsewhere, they request that Andrea restring them and she encourages this. Many of them are repeat customers, who, when they are not getting themselves new jewelry from Anniebinks, are getting gifts for loved ones.
“Creativity has also been something that feeds my soul by imagination… I firmly believe that all of us need to find things to mitigate the stress in our lives. There is always stress regardless and certainly the last two years [with the pandemic] have proven that, but I think that we all need to find something to do that makes us happy. Your happiness should never be wrapped up in any person… All of us should explore our creativity. I think it is a very female-like perspective because if you think about men, most men define themselves by the work they do and that is why a lot of times when they retire, they have trouble readjusting to the environment because they haven’t developed any other interest. Their work is everything so when that’s gone, that’s a problem for them. Women on the other hand, they do all kinds of things in their lives, so even when they’ve stopped working, they still have things that they do, be it gardening, be it sewing, they have other interests outside of their work. You’d hardly hear a woman refer to her career but when she talks about herself, says, she’s a wife, a mother and mentions all the things she does but men generally go with their careers, that’s what they are…,” explained Andrea.
She added while chuckling, “But, let’s put it this way, if I couldn’t create something, I think I would die.”
Each bracelet is a one-of-a-kind piece and shows that much thought goes into the way the colours are arranged. Careful consideration is also taken with the kinds of beads chosen. As a woman who loves jewelry, Andrea pays attention to the materials she purchases from stores in Canada. She knows what quality looks like and customers who are jewelry lovers themselves, can tell that she does, when they look at one of her sophisticated pieces.
Some of the stones Andrea purchases can be costly owing to their quality. Many times, the stones she buys are ones she is drawn to. She is an avid believer that the kind of stone that attracts someone is as a result of their situation or their need at the time. “You can feel drawn to a particular stone and oftentimes you won’t necessarily understand why but sometimes it’s because of a need you have,” she said. “I walked into one of the stores one day and she had this stone called apatite and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love this stone’. It was a stone with different shades of blue and it’s not that blue is my favourite colour, my favourite colour is actually orange but I was drawn to this stone and it was [really] expensive. I was thinking I could only get about two bracelets out of this stone… I was thinking I would have to sell a bracelet for Cdn$50 and I didn’t think anyone would want to pay that price so I walked around for a bit but it kept bothering me and I went back and purchased the stone.
“So, I was wearing this bracelet all the time without looking it up and then one day I decided to check. I was like ‘Oh my God’ because this particular stone was all about joints and muscles and I suffer from arthritis. I couldn’t believe it. I sleep wearing it most nights because I realise it gives me some relief and when I wake up in the morning, I am less achy than if I don’t wear it.”
Andrea went on to point out that pale, creamy-looking stones are great for people who have issues with anxiety as they relax them.
At the Upmarket event, a couple bought bracelets from her. The husband, she recalled, was rather enchanted by her black onyx bracelets and purchased one. She said that according to research, black onyx grants protection. Many of her male customers, she said, are usually drawn to her onyx bracelets, which are huge sellers.
Some of the other stones she uses are sardonyx, African jade, tiger eye which is available in various shades, agate, sunstone, aventurine crystals, clear and white quartz, jasper; the beads are wooden and African trade beads and she also uses animal bones.
The Upmarket event was the first time Andrea sold her bracelets in Guyana. As she prepared for it, the artist shared that she was not sure about the feedback she would receive from Guyanese and whether they would be able to pay for pricier stones, so she brought the more affordable ones. The 70 bracelets she exhibited were made in a matter of days during her visit to Guyana. Many customers told her that was the first time they were seeing stones of such high quality in Guyana.
As it turned out, the most expensive pieces were the ones that sold first. Noting that Guyanese were very receptive, she wished she had brought other items, and intends to do so when she visits Guyana again.
Almost all of her bracelets are made with charms, some with the Tree of Life, face of Buddha, hearts, and animals that add to their character.
There is still lots to learn when it comes to jewelry and Andrea who prides herself on having more rings than her fingers and toes, hopes to learn silversmithing so she can make rings.
Jewelry aside, the artist also makes body butters from shea butter, aloe vera, coconut oil, vitamin E oil, jojoba oil, and mango butter. Alberta, she noted, is very
dry without humidity which led to her making body butters for herself; she subsequently turned this into a business.
At 62, with all she has accomplished in life, Andrea is not yet done and plans to write a book someday. She expects it will be a book that has some relevance to her life.
Though it seems her hands are always at work, being an artist is what Andrea does in her downtime. She is currently employed with Canadian/US insurance company, Primerica.
Andrea has begun working to set up a system which would allow her pieces to be sold here. For an Anniebinks piece or product, Andrea can be reached on Facebook at Andrea Rohlehr, on Instagram @anniebinks, or email at anniebinks@gmail.com.
