–to mount week-long exhibition here from Monday

GUYANESE will have an opportunity to view the work of Vincentian multi-media artist, goldsmith and photographer Josette Norris at a one-week exhibition of paintings, conceptual art and jewellery to be mounted here from Monday.
The exhibition will be held at 160 Waterloo Street, North Cummingsburg, Georgetown, and feature a variety of artistic media, one- of-a-kind costume jewellery fashioned from indigenous material, copper, silver, nickel silver, brass, semi-precious stones and objets trouvés.
Featuring among the exhibits are tributes to Colin Garland (Jamaican/Australian artist), friend and former tutor of the exhibitor whilst she was at the Jamaica School of Art (JSA), and a portrait of world-renowned jazz musician and poet, Vincentian Ellsworth “Shake” Keane.
Before studying, between 1980 and 1984, at the JSA (now the Edna Manley School of Art), Josette served as a Crafts Officer/Designer at the St. Vincent Craftsman, a government agency responsible for the development, promotion and marketing of local craft.
At art school, she majored in Goldsmithy, with subsidiaries in ceramics, sculpture, basic design, graphics and painting. She has a keen interest in documenting, in watercolour, old Vincentian houses and structures, all of which are available in print form in St. Vincent.
Some of her paintings, mainly in acrylic, adorn the walls of many business places and homes in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, while others have been shown at exhibitions in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago (1984), UNESCO Paris (1999), and OAS, Washington, D.C., (2004).
At home in SVG, Josette has staged her own major multimedia exhibitions featuring photography, jewellery and watercolours in 1985 and 1997, along with minor shows of her jewellery, art and crafts in 2001 and 2002.
She illustrated the cover for the 2nd edition (2003) of Ruler in Hairouna, a classic novel on Caribbean politics, written by her friend, the late George C.H. Thomas.
Josette works from her studio at her home on Pembroke, St. Vincent, painting and producing one-of-a-kind jewellery and crafts under the trade name, Bijoux Josette.
She also makes and designs fashion jewellery for presentations staged by designer, Kimya Glasgow, her niece. Apart from her focus on painting and jewellery, she also dabbles in ceramics and graphics in her spare time, and is an avid photographer, doing the occasional weddings and other significant celebrations.
Over the past few years, Josette has been a frequent visitor to Guyana, where her daughter, Samara Murphy, lives with her husband, Ronald Burch-Smith, and her grandson, Grayson.
The idea to stage an exhibition in Guyana came from her son-in-law, and grew out of her appreciation for the country’s rich cultural heritage.
Because of the fragile nature of her work, Josette asks that visitors do not bring children under the age of 13.
The exhibition is free, and open to the public from Monday, June 5 to Saturday, June 10 from 11:00hrs to 18:00hrs daily. Visitors can look forward to an exciting and rewarding experience.
For further information, please contact Ronald Burch-Smith: 661-4091.