By Alisa Lashley
HISTORY has deemed Art to be a portal of unique expressions. An individual may choose to translate his or her inner emotions through various means of painting, sculpting and amongst other creative things.
In the current era, it would seem that less emphasis is placed on self-expressing art, primarily amongst young people. There are a few, however, who, despite the many challenges, have defied the odds, charged on with their brush and turned their God-given skills into businesses.
Shamaar Oxford and Michael Benn, both self-taught artists, together have proven to be nothing less than two of the nation’s fastest-growing young entrepreneurs. Combining art forms like graphite and cartoons, the young creatives have done no wrongs in the marketing of their work on various social media. The two young men developed their love for painting a few years ago, and after perfecting their skills individually, they later fostered their business, Three Degrees North.
Three Degrees North is noted by the young men to be a trading and artistic brand, whereby their art is portrayed on a widespread background or item so that individuals can view and enjoy on different levels of conceptuality. “There are artists doing what they have to do to attain recognition and to be on top, but they oftentimes limit themselves to just the canvas and papers. As for me, I wanted to take a different route, to move upwards but to do so differently. I am displaying my art wherever it is possible to be placed, the only way forward is north, but in my case, three degrees in that direction because like I mentioned before, being different is key,” Shamaar expressed.
Michael further stated that they aim to allow their clients to bring their individual vision to life through the use of their art, adding, “When a client contacts us and states what they[sic] want us to create, whether it’ll be displayed on a hat, bag, sneakers, wall and/or t-shirt, we first do a sketch and then proceed to display it to the client. If it’s of their liking, we’d go straight ahead to painting. In other cases, if a client wants something else added to their item we’ll go back to the sketch pad and create until it pleases them.”
Comparing when they first started to where they are currently, the young men noted the tremendous improvements in their artistic and business-management skills due to continuous dedication and practice. The young creatives further implore other young artists that are also developing entrepreneurs to work tirelessly to make their visions reality and to practise consistency in anything they endeavour.
