By Miranda La Rose
After a hiatus of about 12 years both from her passion and being part of the community of artists, Sade Barrow-Browne, 37, decided it was time to return and make use of her training in the arts and so, two years ago, she launched online art gallery, FineArt.gy to promote and market the works of local artists in cyberspace and in physical spaces.
“It was an idea I’d been tossing around for about three years before acting on it in 2021. That was me procrastinating or the time wasn’t right. During 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic when everyone’s brain was active, I worked on bringing it to fruition. Then I launched it in 2022 to ensure it was introduced to the public. That was me jumping back into the art scene. I really hope that FineArt.gy makes an impact in the wider art market and the art scene in Guyana,” Barrow-Browne told Stabroek Weekend.
A graphic artist, who is also a Guyana Economic Development Trust’s 2023 Guyana Innovation Prize Fellow, she was trained in both traditional and digital graphics. Her aim is to integrate technology with art, promote and market the works of painters, photographers, sculptors and digital artists.
husband Cosmo and their children
She recalled, “I was putting this online platform out there and some artists were questioning whether or not I was an artist. ‘Who is she? What is she doing?’”
She was returning to the art community where younger artists did not know of her and some of the older ones knew she had not been active in the field since graduating from the University of Guyana with a bachelor’s degree in art.
How did she venture back into the art world? After graduating from the University of Guyana in 2009 she began to work at Intellect Storm, a technology company that produces and develops software, online security, and any kind of technology solution-based app. Her co-workers, mainly men, occasionally teased her about her not using her art degree. Her intention, nevertheless, was to monetise the degree when the opportunity arose.
inaugural Beyond the Brush
She took that opportunity during the Covid-19 pandemic and she is still a partner of Intellect Storm but she works from home to also care for her three-year-old son.
Barrow-Browne noted that fine art online galleries are not new to the world but may be new to Guyana. She also noted that technology in art may be new to some local artists, but is not new globally.
“However, some artists don’t deal with technology. They don’t think it is necessary, especially the older ones. In relation to technology, you can get through to younger artists faster than the older ones. So, there were a few obstacles I had to consider. However, I launched the online platform with the understanding that I knew the people, the community and I knew who were there to support me. I was also still in contact with my friends from Burrowes School of Art,” she said.
at her painters’ party for children
Beyond the Brush
Barrow-Browne is also the holder of a diploma in art from the E R Burrowes School of Art where she specialised in graphics and ceramics. Most of her colleagues from Burrowes, she said, were either teachers in the education system or studio artists trying to make money, so she decided to make use of her training and assist her colleagues in one way or another in marketing their work, while helping herself.
Proud of the strides Fine Art.gy has made in the past three years, she said it will be staging another edition of Beyond the Brush, which was inaugurated last year at the Marriott Hotel.
This time around, Beyond the Brush ’24 will be held on the 29th and 30th November at ‘The Palazzo’ at Lamaha and Camp streets.
The theme of this year’s event is ‘Heartbeat of Heritage’ with a focus on the country’s cultural heritage in its various forms.
“The objective is to maintain and preserve in art our many local cultures from our varied backgrounds. We feel we need to record these in our artworks. We want to preserve our culture especially with the rapid developments taking place in the country because of the growing local oil industry and with so many eyes from the global community on us. With the development of hotels and restaurants, we would like to see more of our artwork in these establishments,” Barrow-Browne said.
“We would like to see more appreciation for our local arts and culture. We actively propose to hotels and restaurants to commission local pieces for their aesthetics. We want to show Guyanese and visitors alike our culture so they can learn, appreciate and respect it.”
Last year’s in-person two-day exhibition was held at the Marriott Hotel with an open-ended theme. The event featured 40 seasoned and emerging artists.
“Among the emerging artists whose work we exhibited, was that of a 12-year-old girl. Her work was on show to motivate visitors to encourage their children to express themselves through drawings, sketches, paintings and generally through the arts,” said Barrow-Browne.
“I’m very proud of the strides we have made since. We are bringing together and collaborating with artists in the Caribbean region as well. We’re very keen on finding markets for the artists and we’re presenting them with opportunities to sell their art and promote their businesses. It is not about my business alone.”
On the FineArt.gy website, pieces of mostly emerging artists are displayed. “You can purchase from the website. We definitely utilise technology in that way. We also push sales through email marketing, social websites and different digital platforms that have a wider reach,” she stated.
An upcoming event on the website’s calendar of events is a ‘Sip and Paint’ activity organised by artist Mariah Lawrence to be held at Cara Lodge on 3rd August. To date the response to the event has been overwhelming, Barrow-Browne said.
Background
Barrow-Browne was born in Bartica. She grew up with her aunt and uncle, Lorna and Colin Murray, as her parents lived abroad. She did not migrate with her parents because they believed in a good Guyana/Caribbean education but there was always the option to pursue a tertiary education abroad. She has opted to remain in Guyana but travels occasionally.
“My aunt had three children of her own but she treated us, my younger brother and I as her own. We knew our cousins as our brothers and sisters. My parents didn’t make a bad decision. They provided for us,” she said.
As a child Barrow-Browne loved sketching cartoons, drawing inspiration from comic books such as the Archie series.
While a student at Marian Academy, she said, her aunt, and her uncle who is now deceased, encouraged her in her art work.
“It was not shunned upon. It was okay to do it. My art was always nourished from school age and in the home. My family members are not into art. They are in business and the sciences. At Marian Academy I was sketching and drawing and my art teacher at the time Ms Rhonda Wilson was always encouraging me to put my thoughts on paper. It was always about sketching what was on my mind,” she recalled.
After leaving Marian Academy she enrolled at the Burrowes School of Art where instead of sketching and drawing she went on to pursue graphics and ceramics, neither of which she had ever done before. Cartoon sketching, she said, is related to graphics.
Coming from a private school and a sheltered environment to a public tertiary institution, she said, “It was a culture shock. You quickly learn to become independent but it is a good space to be in as an artist with a unique set of people from varying backgrounds and a plethora of ideas.”
However, one of the first things that happened to her at the art institution was losing most of her materials from her locker during the first week.
“That was a rough orientation. You can’t go back to your parents and say they stole my materials. They were very expensive and you cannot complain to the administration. So as an artist you just create whatever you can with whatever you have remaining. That was what I had to do. You just needed to survive that initial settling-in phase if you wanted to pursue art. I went in blindly not knowing what the space was going to be like. It either makes you or breaks you,” she said.
“I went to Burrowes School of Art which was over the fence from Marian Academy while most of my colleagues went to the University of Guyana or to universities abroad. I didn’t feel like I was pursuing something grand, I just knew I was doing what I wanted to do, what was right for me to do. Fellow students were also doing what they loved doing so there was that bonding and kinship.”
Barrow-Browne had always loved ceramics but had never seen how it was done before. “Lecturers and teachers have this ability to see your strengths and weaknesses and they have the ability to guide you in a direction. I relied on some guidance, especially with graphics. My drawing tutor, Josefa Tamayo, a Cuban Guyanese, was one of the first persons who said I was neat and good at putting things together and suggested that I do graphics. She really encouraged me. Then I became fascinated with ceramics and I fell in love with it. Everley Austin, well known artist and ceramicist, was one of my tutors.”
Though she has not had time to get involved in ceramics, as yet, she said, “I do intend to build a studio in my backyard, have a potter’s wheel and be that ceramics woman. It is embedded in me. It’s in the plan.”
Once she settled into studies at Burrowes and made many friends she enjoyed her programme of studies and successfully completed the three-year diploma programme in 2007. During the August school holidays she did an internship with Guyenterprise Advertising Agency and was introduced to digital graphics with guidance from Pat Cumbermack.
“I had only done traditional graphics at Burrowes. I worked in the art room and I was the only female in the department. The guys were very helpful in teaching the rookie how to do things,” she recalled.
On completion of Burrowes School of Art, she entered UG where she completed the art degree in two years with exemptions because of the diploma she gained at art school.
While studying full time at UG, she joined the staff of Impressions Branding headed by Neil Sukhlall, another artist and alumnus of Burrowes School of Art. “Mr Sukhlall was instrumental in honing my skills in digital graphics. I was at Impressions Branding for seven years until I got married and subsequently got my two children,” she said.
Because of her creative background, it follows that whenever her children celebrate their birthdays, she occasionally hosts a painters’ party for them and their friends.
“My son, three years, doesn’t like to get his fingers dirty but the girl, nine, is definitely creative. She is always drawing, painting and coming up with ideas. It’s all about expression at a young age. It helps with a child’s emotional intelligence and ensuring he/she has healthy ways of expressing one’s feelings be it anger or happiness,” she said,
She takes her children and niece and nephew to art exhibitions to enable them to understand the conduct of being in such an environment and to appreciate from a young age what art is about.
She is pleased and proud that her life career is built around art. “I don’t regret it one bit. I’m not extra stressed and my husband, Cosmo Browne, is very supportive of my career choice. He is like an employee without pay, a volunteer in what I do,” she added.
