By Jared Liddell

Visual art takes many forms, from paintings and sketches to drawings and even videos and animation. A local art business ‘Extraordinary Designs’ has taken the initiative to feature all of these forms of visual art in their services offered including, wall paintings, sculpture and even animation. Owner and artist behind the business Shimuel Jones told the Pepperpot Magazine of his Journey which began eight years ago.

Jones stated that although he had a few challenges in getting his dream business up and running they were not significant enough to stop him from following his dream. He said that from a young age he always had the vision that he would be an artist, stating that his love for what art represented and his love for sharing his art with others always influenced him and enabled him to have a sense of awareness that this is what he is meant for.

“The journey had its ups and downs but I prevailed. I wouldn’t say it was hard because growing up I always knew what I wanted to do, it wasn’t like I had to sit and think … I knew for myself that I was creative and I was born to be an artist so the financial rewards were secondary,”he said. “I wasn’t really thinking about that so it was if I didn’t even have to think about it there were no other options, I knew from the beginning that I was going to be an artist.”

He explained that he officially started the business eight years ago using his talent and artistry to provide portraits mainly pencil, wall paintings, sculptures, and subsequently animation. Jones mentioned one of his more known animation projects: “Hello, Hello GPL”- who could forget, one of the most known GPL commercials, where a family loses their home for what we as Guyanese know as “thiefing lights”. That commercial was created and animated by none other than Jones, himself.
Jones stated that he has also done several other animation projects both regionally and locally for other small and medium companies. He told the Pepperpot Magazine that although portraits are one of the main services persons request from his business, he chooses to offer animation services as a way to evolve his business and keep up with the trends in the business world.

“For me, I am constantly trying to grow. As long as you are in business you have to constantly keep up with the trends. Every business is changing and I had to ensure that I was evolving and staying up to date with the trend in my business,”he said. “If you look at how art is evolving, cartoon animation is one of the more modern aspects of art so with that in mind I perused cartoon animation. I took a few courses in it to better develop the skills I had already possessed. And from that, I’ve been able to do projects.”

Jones said that he would encourage younger creatives to follow their dreams, invest in their craft and push themselves to be the best. He stated that art is something that should be shared with people and that he would encourage all young creatives to invest in themselves and ensure they take the time to produce quality products that would feed into the souls and minds of their customers and supporters.