My Day Today

I was out and about today…

Connect the dots! Passed by this old office building on Maraval Road, Port of Spain.

I ran into an artist painting...

She was painting a coconut carriage around the Savannah...

...and attracted a fair amount of curiosity and attention.

She was doing an oil painting for a friend's new art gallery. She uses a plastic bag as a palette. I thought it looked pretty.

While I was there watching her work, I noticed some interesting sights…

Pretty Tree Cathedral

Ackee flowers (?) in coconut shell.

Stag... a man's beer.

I was hungry, so I told my new artist friend “goodbye” and travelled somewhere for lunch.

Lunch was part-Latin, but lunch was all good!

Here are the condiments. Clockwise from upper left: Hot pepper sauce, Tamarind sauce, Garlic sauce and Shadon Beni sauce.

Lunch was polenta, stewed chicken, with a side salad of stir-fried seasoned broccoli and cauliflower florets. Washed down with Pommecythere (golden apple) juice.

Did I mention that lunch was good?

I decided to have a slice of heaven for dessert. Oops... I meant carrot cake...

After I'd paid for lunch, I looked around and saw some interesting pictures hanging on a nearby wall.

They were rare pictures of popular calypsonians (some of whom are deceased).  I took pictures of them.  The owner objected though.  I deleted them out of respect for his collection.  He promised me that we could meet to chat after Carnival was over and he’d let me see the others.

Today was a good day…

Peace and Rice,

jw

Making Their Mark

I like graffiti.  Always have.  I guess it has a lot to do with the freeform expression… the ability to rush a beautiful piece of rebellion onto a surface without getting caught.  At school, I used to express myself quite liberally in wood carvings on my desks.

Anyway, over the last few years, graffiti artists have been making Port of Spain their canvas of choice.  I’ve chronicled some of their exploits in the public space before (some examples here, here and here).

I’ve been noticing a new artist on the scene these days… artistes, probably.  An artist or a collective going by the name of “HOWOK”…

Click the pix to see more of what they’ve been up to…

Peace and Rice,

jw

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

Sitting on a bench around the Queen’s Park Savannah on a moonlight night.

I mean to read the book of the same title one of these good days…

Peace and Rice,

jw