Adversities helped Alvina Naughton to reconnect with the artist she always knew she was and today she finds joy in painting and creating art, however her soul allows her to do this as it is part of her healing process.
Naughton, a mother of two, always knew she wanted to become an artist; she has relatives on both sides of her family who are into this but with this career not seen as lucrative in Guyana and she was guided along another path.
Years later, with an International Relations (IR) degree from the University of Guyana under her belt and some teaching experience, Naughton believes she is where she belongs in life. While it might not make millions, her art brings her joy that is twofold: creating and helping other young artists to find their niche and giving them a safe space to create. She does the latter by allowing them to use space in a family house that she is slowly turning into a studio, where she can be at peace while she creates.
It would be correct to say that Naughton came full circle to her artistic side as she got married and travelled around, mostly in Europe, where she witnessed real appreciation for art.
“It is in my blood because from as far back as I can remember, both sides of my family, my paternal grandfather and what I know of my maternal grandmother, they were both creatives. I grew up seeing that around me and then I have siblings who are also creatives,” Naughton told this newspaper in a recent interview.
She recalled that she had drawings from way back, some of which were outfits she designed for herself that were sewn by her mom. Her first painting, which she did in her late teens, was of a benab overlooking a stream with lilies.
Despondent
“Initially I wanted to do art but you know I was advised that it was not as lucrative a career to explore…,” Naughton said of her decision to study IR.
Asked how she felt about this advice Naughton was candid enough to reveal that she felt despondent but looking back she believes it was for her good at that time.
“In retrospect I think that the journey turned out exactly as it should because … the maturity I have now that I am reconnecting with art, it was not what I had back then,” she explained.
“Broken” is how believes she would have been had she taken the plunge into art in her late teens, as she was not mentally prepared for what it had it to offer and the challenges. She said she needed some more grounding.
Completing her IR degree took longer as it was not her first love, but it was not a wasted period. After that, she said, “life happened”; she got married and had two children then moved abroad with her family.
Travelling in certain parts of Europe reignited Naughton’s passion as it was “just the presence of art and the way society embraces it. It is not sporadic like you find here, it is everywhere…,” she said.
She returned to Guyana in 2016 and was a stay-at-home mom. It was her dad, who was instrumental in encouraging her to study IR, who suggested that she return to UG and do what she “always wanted to do. He said I will help to fund it …,” she said.
But before going to UG she explored the option of the Burrowes School of Art but the connection was not there.
While she was overseas, Naughton recalled, there were a lot of positives as to why she should recommit to art, but once she actually started the journey she found that there was “a lot to be desired. … You are offering these courses at the University of Guyana and it is the highest institution in the country but when we compared, Burrowes had a lot more equipment and to me I felt if we are at the highest level that you should up your game… and have proper equipment for the students… it was a lot of outdated equipment…”
She also found that the course had no bridge between art and marketing art and so while artists were creating when it came to sales, there were some challenges. Not to be deterred, Naughton said she got a few other art students together and they were able to access a marketing course, where they got some balance between the two aspects.
Naughton said at the time she specialised in sculpture but found that there was no scope for development and while she graduated with a distinction it was with an associate degree, which she opted to do.
“I felt that it was a shame that I had to cut the experience short due to lack of proper equipment…,” she shared.
When she left UG, she withdrew, she said, and “I did my own thing from my cave”. She also started working on the family building to make it into a studio space.
“I connected with a few young artists in the community and I recognised that the space was sufficient to have them come over because they would have spoken of their challenges of working from home and not being able to complete work,” she shared.
Naughton said she endured her own adversities over the last decade and she found that art has been significant to her healing journey. During that journey, she has seen her art evolve as in the past her work was more on the dark side and she realised that there is a distinct connection to an artist’s emotion and what transfers to the canvas. It was at UG she found she was transitioning as there was an abrupt shift in her colour scheme.
“It was a mindset shift as well, accepting that adversities are a part of life. You can either let it overpower you and you can just go down as a failure, or you can rise above it . You can express your challenges; you can help others through their challenging moments and I chose the latter,” the artist said.
She also uses the studio, which is still being completed, to meet with other women (she is a part of a group) and give them an opportunity to speak and release whatever they want to. If they just want a space to be silent, then that is given as well. Creative exercises are also done to help women connect with their inner selves.
Out of the cave
Coming out of her cave is how Naughton describes her official entrance to the local art scene. She said attorney-at-law Ayana McCalman, a good friend, was instrumental in this process as she abruptly arranged for her to have her first solo exhibition and she didn’t take no for an answer. She got tremendous support and upon reflection believed she had hidden away for too long. She said she had “this urge to create and I had these colours in my head and I couldn’t rest… they just needed to get out”.
She had less than a week’s notice for the exhibition, but knew it was time she came out of her cave and put work out publicly because while she was commissioned in the past, the exhibition created a platform and there has been a ripple effect. From the exhibition there has been some traction and the support has been tremendous.
She finds that she is now gravitating more into intuitive art where you create based on emotions.
Naughton sees herself as transitioning and her art is more of an uninhibited expression of that.
“I don’t generally approach the canvas with a plan or what colours I want to use. I come to the work space and I look at the colours and whichever ones in that moment I feel connected to, I pick them up. I don’t always use brushes anymore, I use other tools to create…” she explained.
She noted that there is joy in doing what you are passionate about as you never see it as work.
There is a new collection she is creating where she is painting on anything, bags, t-shirts, sneakers and now she sees herself as a multidisciplinary artist because the canvas is not her only medium.
She is also passionate about wearable art.
Naughton said there are certain things she needs to streamline in terms of the marketing but there has been a lot of exposure and she is hopeful that it would generate a steady income.
It is not possible for her to have a full-time job in another career and build her art at the same time and while her art journey might be seen as a slow process, she has deviated so many times from what she wants to do that she wants to hold strong to her passion this time around.
“It is time for me to settle into what I am passionate about and just create,” the artist said as she added that she is happy to be transmitting that positive energy to those around her.
Looking to the future, she wants to manage her studio space and various income streams as well as mentor young artists. Some more travel is also on the agenda as “the itch is there”, she said.
