— aunt and nephew duo keeping themselves busy with art

By Naomi Parris
WITH many self-quarantining to protect themselves and their families and to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus, an aunt and nephew duo are keeping themselves busy working on their art and craft during the pandemic.
Roxanne Austin, 19, an aspiring artist, is spending her days drawing and penning her ideas on paper.

The self-taught artist told Guyana Chronicle that her interest in art sparked when she was in primary school. “I always loved drawing. I could remember from when I was younger, in primary school, I was just making funny sketches in the back of my book. And then I saw a cartoon spider on this story book, and I drew it. And I loved it. The image stuck with me ever since. Ever since then, I have been drawing. Just random little people in my books,” Austin stated.

She added that, it was not until she began secondary school that she took an interest in drawing more complex things like portraits of persons and adding shadowing and other techniques to her drawings.

Austin noted that she hopes to make drawing a career, and to one day have her work recognised internationally. “It’s one of my dreams that one day my art won’t only just be portrayed all over Guyana, but it would be recognised internationally,” the teen stated.
Recently, Austin had started experimenting with portraits and has managed to draw several portraits and colored drawings as a means of expanding her artistry.
One of Austin’s recent artwork shows a drawing of the Guyana flag in what she translates to be the hands of God as Guyana is one of the many countries battling the deadly coronavirus.

A FAMILY TRAIT
On the other hand, Austin’s 14-year-old nephew, Leroy Austin, who also resides in the same home as his aunt, is following in his aunt’s footsteps, making use of his artistic skills to kill boredom since schools are closed due to the pandemic.
The young man, who is an aspiring architect, stated that he fell in love with art since he was at kindergarten.

The oldest of three siblings, Austin told Guyana Chronicle that he stumbled upon a video on YouTube where he saw someone making a toy car out of cardboard cut-outs and thought to himself that he could do the same.
He then went around his home and found a few materials and started making his own toys, from cardboard boxes, Styrofoam and small pieces of plywood for himself and siblings.
“When I first started making these toys I was 12; I was watching something on YouTube and I saw this video where someone was making all kinds of things with cardboard and I said I could do that too,” he related.

Austin stated that when he would get bored or tired of watching cartoons, he would sit with his pieces of cardboard and some hot glue and just build things.
“When I’m bored, I would look for cardboards and start making all kinds of things; one time I made a helicopter and I got a small motor to make it fly,” he stated.

GREAT TALENT
The young man, who is deemed a born artist destined for great things, was at the top of his nursery school class when it came to art. He always coloured inside the lines and drew the most outstanding pictures.
Aside from making toys out of recyclable materials, Leroy has also developed an eye for sculpting. The young man recently found a new form of art and started making sculptures from bath soaps.

The young man stated that he sometimes surprises himself with how much he can do and can create with just his bare hands.

He stated that one day he would love to take his art to a higher level and perhaps work in the field of architecture and design buildings and so forth.
Leroy has become extremely popular for his art in his school and community since he would get orders for school projects and toys. The young man has turned his art into a business and would sell toy cars and trucks to his friends and adults who would wish to purchase toys for their little ones.

The young man noted that one of his greatest inspirations is his aunt, Roxanne, who also has an eye for art.