ONE OF the newest admissions to the Sonia Noel Foundation for Creative Arts “Women in Business Expo” is the Chief Executive Officer and Craft Designer of the Berbice-based ‘Intricate Creations’ Guyanese, Melba La Gadoue. Melba joined this initiative through her fascinating floral creations, which use waste material from the coconut palm to make a powerful statement, concerning the value of the Green Concept and the recycling/up-cycling initiative.

And more and more, the roses and other items produced by that entity continue to exert a magnetic pull on the viewers who are absolutely intrigued by the creativity of the manufacturer and the elegance of the finished product.

She has since been involved in many such exhibitions, making her debut at the “Women in Business Expo” in March 2015, where she hit the spotlight with a spectacular showing of some 26 pieces of floral pieces, wowing shoppers and viewers alike with exquisite pieces.
By 2017, she was declared Winner for the Best Display in the Large Booth category at that year’s “Women in Business Expo”.

And continuing to demonstrate an interest in the collaboration, La Gadoue who is a Science teacher at Vryman’s Ervin Secondary School in Berbice, uses her knowledge of science to promote for the people of Berbice, a better understanding and appreciation of the Green Concept or Green Economy Initiative.

“When you take those unwanted products and upgrade them, you come up with interesting creations. Such items include coconut palm leaves, pointers, beverage bottles, and other versatile pieces of non-traditional fabric among other things,” La Gadoue said.

Intricate Creations again featured recently at the Women in Business Expo at the Pegasus Hotel on March 10 and 11. Her booth exhibited a wide variety of florals, including photo frames, centrepieces; vases made from recycled bottles; beautifully designed pieces that say “Thank You” or emit other emotions, as well as creations suited for enhancing interior home and office décor.

La Gadoue’s inventions are all part of the Up-cycle Recycle Management, a process whereby unwanted or discarded products such as parts of the coconut fruit or palm are reused to create useful items.

The florals are custom made, utilising mainly coconut fibre and palm, and attractively spray-painted with earth-tone colours as requested.
La Gadoue says she finds her job of producing items of craft for her business to be extremely exciting, especially when she reflects on what she has created, using her talent and the impact it would have made on other people.

“My best moment is on completion of a creation, the positive responses it it generates from viewers … then I say to myself, ‘It was worth it all’,” she said.
Additionally, La Gadoue shares her skills twice weekly with students from the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Drop-In Centre at Smythfield, New Amsterdam and Corentyne.