THINGS from the home and environment that would have otherwise gone into the trash are being recycled into art pieces in the form of up-cycled art by the talented Alvina Naughton. These include glass bottles, designs for clothing, and bookmarks.

Naughton has a safe space for girls and women to express themselves via arts and craft, and she provides services in canvas art, bottle art, Guyanese art: the 592 collection, wearable art and customised art.

As a small-business owner who doesn’t have a large income, she said that she manages the “Village Nook” located on the East Coast of Demerara, an arts and wellness centre to assist persons in healing from trauma through creativity.

The mother of two told the Pepperpot Magazine that she is originally from Victoria, East Coast Demerara, but relocated to Cove and John village. After she attained a degree in visual arts from the University of Guyana (UG), she wanted to assist people who have been suffering from gender-based violence and other forms of trauma.

Naughton works with girls and women mostly in an open forum as they come, and it provides a safe space for them to display/sell their hand-made pieces in art and craft and promote local products.

She related that she would also assist the girls and women to become creative through arts and craft, and make things from scratch to showcase their talent and enhance their abilities.

Naughton is also an entrepreneur of Rebrandz Collectionz, where she makes bookmarks, designs clay pots, upcycles glass bottles, and customised personal pieces, be it jewels, bags, clothing, case for iPads, and sneakers, among other things, including graphic designs for business cards, flyers etc.

She promotes healing art sessions, free of cost at the “Village Nook,” and it has seen its fair share of participants, who come and go, forming a sizeable group of girls and women from many East Coast Demerara villages.

Naughton stated that her journey in art and craft began after her father encouraged her to pursue studies in visual arts, since he knew she had a knack for it. Her father paid her tuition fees for the years she needed to study, and she found the art and craft process therapeutic and healing for her. At that time, she was working with clay pieces and sculptural art.

“Art and craft helped me to overcome deep traumatic experiences, and while I was creating a space for my studio, I realised I had enough room to provide a safe space for others to come and heal with art and craft, so I went ahead and established that,” she said.

Naughton thought about making her art and craft into a small business, birthing Rebrandz Collectionz. She benefitted from specialised training and even participated in many local and overseas expositions showcasing her talent and Guyanese-themed- arts and craft.

Her first solo expo was held locally and sponsored in 2023, opening opportunities for her to express herself via arts and craft.

She has since been endorsed by Fine Art Gallery, an online outfit for local art and craft producers to showcase their products.

Naughton, 42, reported that since her small business is still new, she operates it single-handedly, mostly with additional support from her two teenage daughters and partner until she is well-established to employ others.

“As a beneficiary of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women ‘Road to Growth’ training programme for women entrepreneurs among the 150 women, I feel it was one of the best transformative platforms for women to be able to be exposed to hands-on knowledge to grow and overcome challenges to keep their businesses operational,” she said.

The multi-talented Naughton also has a degree in International Relations, and she is presently collaborating with an overseas-based Guyanese, Tess Webb-Lewis, as a volunteer with the annual summer programme for children held at the Victoria Primary School.

Free classes are held on Mondays to Thursdays, which started on July 15 and will end on August 9, 2024, to promote inter-personal learning in Mathematics, English, reading, health/family, life education and arts/craft.

Tessa-Webb Lewis is an international Mathematics Educator with a group called “Mothers to Mothers” and hosts online tutoring for women and their children at both primary and secondary school levels.

Naughton provides one-on-one visual arts learning to a little boy who was previously unable to read and who is a slow learner.