Victory Lap

"For success, attitude is equally as important as ability." - Walter Scott

Dearest readers, there is much to talk about. These past two weeks have been a blur, and I have reaped the rewards of all of the hard work I have put in during this past year. Without further ado, let me begin:

- Secondary Schools Short Film Festival 2014

In my previous post, I begged all of you to head to the polls over at OvertimeTT.com to vote for a short film created by my friends and I; a short film called Shadows.

In case you haven't seen the short film as yet, you can view it here:

Turn your speakers up!



Shadows was created in 2014 over the July-August vacation as part of an entry by hillview College into the Secondary Schools Short Film Festival (SSSFF). The team comprised of many outgoing members of Upper 6 including Caleb Hector, Duane Swift, Marc Harroo, Naveen Ramoutar and I; along with members of (at the time) Form 2: Tevon Thatcher and Imzan Ogir.

It is a social piece tackling one aspect of psychological trauma in the evolution of a victim of bullying into a perpetrator of the act.

After your tireless voting efforts, I am pleased to announce that my team has brought the award home to my school! Thanks to the voters and my team, Hillview College has won the people's choice award for 2014!

This leaves me with high hopes for the future of filmmaking at the school, since this entire process has inspired many to find their creative side, and explore different realms of storytelling. 

- Film and Photography Club and Graduation

Last Thursday 9th October, 2014, I officially graduated from Hillview College. Later on that week, I would also find out that I had won a national scholarship in the academic sphere of Natural Sciences.

However, this is an art blog, so academics play second fiddle to expression here!


Last year, a decades-dead club was revived  under the tutelage of very enthusiastic staff members. As part of the executive of the now-revived Film and Photography Club at Hillview College, my hard work played an integral role in the operations of this thriving community.

Besides being part of the student leadership, I was basically their official graphic artist and public relations go-to guy.

As a thriving club, we hosted an exhibition of members work months after formation, sold fundraising calendars, created an identifiable badge, established a commanding online presence, and effectively became the premier media outlet of life at Hillview College.


So...

I was very thrilled that on graduation, I was given the honour to accept an award as a representative of the Film and Photography Club. This was no ordinary award...

The Film and Photography Club, just one year old, well-deservedly won the award for "Organization Making the Most Significant Contribution to College Life!!!" 

The Memorial Bowl for "Club of the Year" 

- The Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago

I have only been a member of the ASTT for just about a year. However, as longtime readers know, I've been going down there long before I became a member.

The largest art exhibition of the year at the ASTT is the November Members' Group Exhibition, which runs the longest of all shows at the gallery.

I have submitted my two pieces to the exhibition, and eagerly await the opening reception on November 7th, 2014 and 7p.m.

However, the story does not end there...

There was an in-house competition to select the best design for the invitation to this premier exhibition. After days of suspense, I was contacted.

They picked me to design the invitation and catalogue cover, along with other necessary graphics, for the November Exhibition of 2014.

On that note, I would like to cordially invite you to come down to the Art Society of Trinidad and Tobago to view the works of all the members, and purchase those that appeal to you. It would certainly make both you and the artist happy!

Details are included in the image below:

The exhibition runs from November 7th to 22nd, 2014.

The opening reception takes place on Friday 7th, November, 2014 from 7p.m. to 9p.m.

Be there.

Photography Revival

Recently, my school formed a photography club. This is currently the youngest active club in the entire school; it is also one of the few artistically inclined clubs. After a few meetings, I realized that this club has immense potential to become the future of the media within Hillview College.

I am a very active member of this group as a photographer at most times, and a teacher at others.

Recently, the photography club was tasked with the creation of a logo. I lunged at the opportunity since our Facebook page was in need of an official profile photo, and our members are eager to wear the club badge with pride. To wear the badge, we must first have one.

To make a long story short, I submitted my logo.

An aperture containing the symbolic stamp of our school seemed to be the most appropriate choice.

This was a relatively simple task in Photoshop, but the creative juices took a while to flow.

I blame academics for hindering my creativity :P

To put the icing on the cake, I ensured that I used the school's colours of Maroon and Gold in it's implementation. If all goes well, the final logo will be drafted in the coming weeks (since I had forgotten to include the "film" segment of our club) and we'll have a badge!


In conclusion, I simply have wonderful news:

It's good to be back.

Distinctive Excellence

I must apologize for my extended period of absence from the blog, I've been quite lazy during this vacation.

However, this laziness was as a result of the hard work placed into my CSEC and Cambridge International Exams in the previous term. The serene bliss of sedentary life was broken two weeks ago upon the release of CSEC examination results from their website.

I always believe that you can only hope to receive as much as you have put into anything in life.
And I definitely put a lot of effort into my artwork.


So, I'm beaming with pride to announce my distinction in the CSEC Visual Arts exams.
Grade A profiles in all three categories:

-Drawing
-Graphic and Communication Design
-Theory Process and Practice.


Also, having received grade ones in each of my other 8 CSEC subjects (with seven of them being full distinctions), it was quite a relief to see my hard work rewarded.

Year in Review: 2011

Here we are once again, facing the end of another year while eagerly awaiting the genesis of another. As time races by, one must always take some time out to reflect on the events of the year past to examine one's achievements as well as one's shortcomings.



This year has exposed me to a diverse range of experiences. The year two thousand and eleven has taken me from tragedy to triumph and back.


With 2011 almost behind us, I will take this opportunity to recap my experiences this year in the visual arts.

In no particular order:

• Republic Bank - Young Artists' Canvas to the World Project

In December of the previous year, 2010, I entered into Republic Bank's Young Artists' Canvas to the World Project.  Forced to paint during my end of term examinations of my first term in Form 4, this competition put my body and mind under a very large quantity of stress.

Thankfully, after a week or two of hard artistic labour between exams, as well as a very long month of tense waiting, I was invited to the awards ceremony at Republic Bank's head office.

There, I was announced as one of the seven winners of this competition. One of the champions.

My winning piece: The Magic of the Monarch

My winnings included $5,000 in cash for myself, $5,000 in art supplies for my school and the exhibition of my piece of art at the Piarco International Airport and at the Trincity branch of Republic Bank.

You can read the entire trilogy of this story starting here.

• HOUSE M.D. Portrait

Earlier this year, at the beginning of my Easter vacation, I started a new portrait. The subject of this portrait happened to be a favourite television character of mine, Hugh Laurie in the role of Dr. Gregory House.

However, at the private viewing of Canvas Caribbean's exhibit, With an Open Mind, I was advised by my visual arts teacher to stop doing portraits of foreign celebrities. Hence I decided that since this was the last portrait of these celebrities and characters originating outside of our shores, I would be letting this one go out with a bang.

This decision as well as an improvement in my skills led to the birth of my (now famous?) graphite portrait of Dr. Gregory House.

This is currently my flagship portrait, but who knows how long it's reign as my best portrait will be?
2012 seems like a very long year filled with opportunities for me.


This portrait has been very influential in many of my successes this year.

You can read more about this portrait here

This brings me to my next achievement...

• Guide to Online Schools' Student Blogging Awards

To all of those who can remember this button, I am deeply grateful for your support, your time and your energies towards promoting my blog. Your tireless voting put me into the winning spot once again.

With your appreciation of my post on the House M.D. portrait, your tireless voting placed me into the top 10 of the competition. Then, a panel of judges selected the five winning posts based on their quality.

I was one of those five.

You can read more here

• Caribbean Beat Magazine

  Republic Bank was also responsible for another accomplishment of mine, being semi-featured in the Caribbean Beat magazine. This magazine is available free of charge to all passengers of Caribbean Airlines and Air Jamaica on their respective flights.

In the article in the May/June issue of this year, Republic Bank spoke about the success of the competition and its impact on the lives of its participants and its winners.


I was elated to see that out of the seven paintings, they chose mine to display on their article.

You have the opportunity to check out this issue of Caribbean Beat magazine by clicking here

• Heritage - The Knowsley Building

With this being a year of many firsts, it was only fitting that I try to do something groundbreaking. Something that would make people talk for days, weeks, months, even years about a piece of art created by someone so new to the industry.

I wanted to make a statement that professionals need not be these larger than life, detatched individuals.

Greatness can be achieved without losing oneself to social constructs.
Individuality is key in becoming legendary.

Just look at classical Trinidad architecture.


Also, with this being my first major architectural focused landscape, I intended to set a high standard for my work. After five weeks of painstaking detail, shadowing and artistic substitution, 'Heritage' was born.

Heritage - 2011, Graphite pencils on paper: 22" x 17"

As it turned out, this piece along with my portrait of Dr. House became my premier pieces at my school's inaugural Visual Arts exhibition.

• Secrets: The Inaugural Exhibition

As a student of Hillview College, I have the ability to represent my school by the way I conduct myself and the things that I do. I can choose whether to be a positive change to society or to succumb to the pressures of negativity and conformity to the social environment we exist in.

When given the opportunity to display my artwork for the public eye, I must admit that I was a bit concerned underneath all of my excitement and intrigue. However, after the magnificent experience I gained from this occasion, I have faith that my generation can rise from the ashes of Trinidadian society and construct a new reality for the future of the minds of this nation.

Secrets has been a very enlightening experience for myself as I experienced first-hand what it feels like to make a positive impact on others, no matter how miniscule that impact is.

I felt appreciated by people who hardly knew me, I became a celebrity for a week :) , I received some harsh critiques as well as some heartwarming compliments for my efforts. I experienced some extreme contrasts but I deeply appreciated every moment that was bestowed upon me during our exhibition.

You can catch a glimpse of some of the exhibition pieces here

• The Gourmet Genie

As my first clients in the sphere of Graphic Design, I am deeply grateful to the owners of the Gourmet Genie for taking a leap of faith in hiring me to create a television commercial promoting their business in Southern Trinidad.

The Gourmet Genie is a lovely little store which specializes in gourmet food items, teas, coffees, seasonings etc. They also feature 'as seen on TV' products from a variety of famous Food Network personalities.

You can find the Gourmet Genie at Ground Floor, SSL Building, 40 Sutton St, San Fernando


Feel free to visit their Facebook page

And so ends another year in our lives. Was it a worthwhile one?
The year ahead is filled with opportunities to embrace as well as those to decline.


My advice to you is to set your standards high and keep your goals in sight in the coming year.
True success and happiness is born out of hard work and committment.



Have a safe, successful and rewarding 2012.

Certified Student Blogger

Do you remember that lovely little competition in November where I desperately begged you, my readers, to click a large blue button to vote for me?

Do you remember the effort you exerted?

I will never forget your generosity.


The Guide to Online Schools recently held a student blogging competition which awarded the top 5 bloggers with a brand new Kindle from Amazon.com. The top ten bloggers were determined by the number of unique votes each post gathered. The 5 winners were selected by a panel of judges based on the quality content of the post.


Let me officially announce that I am one of those five winners.

Thanks to your hard work at voting and promoting my post, I am a winner.
Thanks to all of you, I now own an Amazon Kindle.


I appreciate all of your support and I hope you enjoy the rest of my blog as much as you enjoyed the House M.D. portrait post.

Mine..mine...MINE!!!

I'm currently very much engrossed in the Bourne Trilogy.
It's very difficult to pry me away from my Kindle, just ask my parents.


Thanks again to all of you!

Secrets: The Exhibition

The first term of Form 5 is finally over.
Now I have the time to update the blog.

There have been quite a few hurdles to overcome this term and there have been a great deal of troughs and crests in our preparation for our inaugural art exhibition, Secrets.

The prospect of hosting an art exhibition at our school was very overwhelming when the idea was first conceived in May, 2011. At that point in time, we were 'enjoying' the all round pressures of the last term of Form 4 and as art students, when Mrs. Tappin - Davis announced that we had the opportunity to host an exhibition, we were very excited at the prospect of showcasing our work to the public.


Needless to say, the journey was a long and hectic one, but it was very much worth it in the end.

In our brave journey into the unknown, our art teacher and we upper school artists single handedly established Hillview College as an institution with a diverse selection of opportunities for academic improvement.


We placed Hillview College on the map for the study of the Visual Arts.



The opening night was abuzz with excitement as specially invited guests enthusiastically browsed through the diverse offering of the artworks created by students of Form 5 and 6.

Our exhibition boasted a total of thirty pieces from seven different artists.
Our display was held in the college's main hall/auditorium.

 Each of our thirty easels were adorned with artworks from our Form 6 artists such as Stephen Prince and Nikolai Maximay as well as our Form 5 artists including Duane Swift, Geovanni Ram, Marc Harroo, Matthew Babwah and myself.

Here are some samples of the artworks which were exhibited:

I shall start the display with my own pieces.
These very pieces gained me a perfect score in this term's Visual Arts assessment.
You may see some of my older pieces as well among the new creations.

All of my pieces:
Form 5M 
Johnathan Smith

Johnathan Smith: Copy of The Bongo Wake - 2010, Pen and Ink : 14" x 17"

Johnathan Smith: House M.D. (portrait 2) - 2011, Graphite on paper : 17" x 22"

Johnathan Smith: The Spiral - 2011, Mixed Media : 18 x 24

Johnathan Smith: Figure Drawing study - 2011 , Graphite on paper : 17 x 22

Johnathan Smith: Heritage - 2011, Graphite on paper : 17 x 22

Johnathan Smith: Pot of Gold - 2011, Mixed Media : 11 x 15

The other artworks were contributed by our Form 6 students, Stephen Prince and Nikolai Maimay, as well as the other students in my Form 5 class. I have included two samples each of my favourite pieces from their collections as well:

Form 6

Nikolai Maximay

Form 6

Stephen Prince

Form 5E

Matthew Babwah

Form 5M

Marc Harroo

Form 5W

Geovani Ram

Form 5M

Duane Swift

Secrets has raised much awareness about the artistic talents which can be found within the walls of the nation's secondary schools, especially those within Hillview College.

Honestly, who will take over as the nation's next generation of artists?

It starts with us, the youth.
Which brings me to another point...


I was elated beyond words by the dramatic turnout of Hillview's student population, on a daily basis, to the auditorium to experience our exhibition.

As Mrs. Tappin - Davis once said, the students came into this exhibition as an oasis from all of the stresses inside of the classroom. Inside of the auditorium, all wild behaviour and horseplay ceased. For the first time in my five years at Hillview, I saw a different side to the students.

They were serene.



I was also elated by the visit of the art students of two other secondary schools.

The Forms 3 - 6 art students of El Dorado East Secondary School and Gasparillo Secondary School both visited our exhibition that week. It was a very enlightening experience for me due to my own personal ignorance of art's appreciation in this country.

After seeing the neglect and pressures faced by the nation's art community, it was extremely refreshing, relieving and invigorating to see so many youths with a passion for the arts. Every single one of them displayed an indiscriminate love and passion for furthering themselves in the artistic realm. Their excitement fueled my love for the arts further simply by knowing "there are more of us out there in society".

It was an honour being part of this inaugural exhibition.

OUR exhibition.

HOUSE

I am a passionate photorealist. I cannot fully appreciate pieces that lack detail unless they vividly depict a deeper, alternate meaning than what is presented at face value. I strive with all of my being to include as much detail as possible into all of my pieces. The full effect of photorealism is achieved through the application of high contrast, painstaking shadowing and the inclusion of as many details as possible.

In portrait work, it is even more important to pay attention to these principles in order to create an impressive replica of the subject in portrait.

However, one must also pay rapt attention to the details of the layout of the face and the person's features. Accuracy in this department will aid in ensuring that the portrait looks just like the person.

A fellow blogger, Portia Subran (a.k.a. DeadEyes), has experience in developing portraits.

You can find her at The Art of Wisdom and War

Anyway, its my turn to show 'off' my portraits too.

It's been a while since I've done a proper portrait. 

Not counting the one I've just completed, the last portrait I created was completed on the first of September last year.

Wow....it's been a while.

Personally, I think that I have definitely improved upon my techniques and my rendering capabilities but I definitely have to continue working hard at improving my accuracy and proportion mapping.

The following picture shows the first portrait I EVER completed:

A 'failed' portrait of Dr. House  

 

House M.D. (Portrait 1), Graphite on paper: 14" X 17".
I definitely have improved since then.

If you take a close look at the portrait, I signed this piece over a year ago.

Since then, things have changed.

My ability to achieve shadowing has improved and I am proud of what I am able to achieve nowadays in my artistic studies and exploration of expression.

I was heavily advised to stop doing portraits of these famous people, so I thought I would let them go out with a bang.

One year later, I decided to take Dr. House for a spin again...

 

I definitely am proud of my improvements, but I leave the verdict up to my readers to tell me where I have to continue the physical practice and research necessary to become a better portrait artist.

Simply more than a year has helped me improve my techniques to a level beyond my own expectations.

On the 22nd April, 2011 This is how the NEW House M.D stands:

House M.D. (Portrait 2), Graphite on paper: 17" X 22".
Improvements galore.

So concludes another vacation in the life of a dedicated student and a very tired human being. The trials of academics and art help make me stronger at least, so there is some good that comes out of hard work.....

This is my last portrait of an internationally famed person who is not locally based.

In the future, I may post some pictures of my previous portraits which include the likes of Queen Latifah, The Joker, Taylor Swift, and last (but not least) Ellen DeGeneres.

Due to my return to the hectic life on Tuesday, my posts may start to dwindle in frequency, but I will try to update as best as I can.

Victory always tastes sweet...(Conclusion)

Well, I think I've kept you in suspense for long enough...


That fateful day when we received that phone call...

I remember it well.
I was sitting there in Add Maths lessons, wondering about my painting, thinking about the fact of not being in receipt of any information on whether it made it or not. Wondering if I didn't make it.

I felt a bit disheartened..


When I got home, I saw that I missed a call.
A voicemail message was also present.


It was Mrs. Davis, my art teacher...




On Saturday 29th January, my parents and I walked into the head office of Republic Bank Trinidad and Tobago on Park Street, Port of Spain.


I had to wear my Hillview College formal uniform and my parents of course had to dress up in their fine formal attire to attend this event.


After the welcomes were given on the ground floor, we were ushered up to the second floor where the ceremony was going to be held. 


Upon entering the room, we were greeted by these:

Ooh, one looks like a portrait......

There were four more on the other side of the room, but what struck me at first was that there was ONE portrait oriented piece there.


If I remember correctly, I DID A PORTRAIT PIECE...

But, I had to remind myself....


'You know what, just shut up Johnathan, you're just going to disappoint yourself...'


The awards ceremony started with a bang, they were clearly not wasting any time at all. This was probably to combat the period of time they took to actually begin the proceedings. We were supposed to begin at 3p.m. but absolutely nobody can prevent the emergence of our world famous 'trini time'.


Everyone was given a certificate of excellence and participation. A nice memoir of the experience in this competition.

THEN.....


THE UNVEILING...


It was only fitting for the General Manager of Marketing Communications of Republic Bank, Mrs. Anna Maria Garcia-Brooks to present the winners with their prizes. 


All seven first place prizes were to be presented...


In order of the room going left to right,


The first was unveiled...


An interesting composition showing the local way of life through the capture of a local vendor's stall. This painting came from the International School of Port of Spain.

The second painting to be unveiled also went to the International School. This painting showed a coconut vendor's stall:

And then...


I heard the description of my painting being called out...
I got through, the prize was mine. 
My painting was going to be exposed on an international scale..
I did it...

"The Monarch butterfly, seen in the Lopinot valley of Arouca, where colourful houses dot the hills of the Northern Range and majestic trees accent the skyline, exudes a certain magical flair as it flirts from flower to flower.

This magic is reminiscent of the Moko jumbie, a symbol of the Merry Monarch of our Trinidad and Tobago Carnival.

One of our traditional carnival characters, the towering moko jumbie, is an African spirit that is said to roam the country, protecting its people and he performs acts that are unexplainable to the human understanding. The magic released by this character embodies the vibrant connection between the natural beauty of our landscapes and the culture of our people which makes this country so magnificently unique. The moko jumbie shares the magic with the monarch butterfly giving genesis to the title, 'The Magic of the Monarch'.

I was more overwhelmed than I looked

(From left) Mrs. Anna Maria Garcia-Brooks, my art teacher Mrs. Davis, MEEE and my Principal Mr. Leslie Mahase

As you can see, I was the only dude there....:)

Ahh, me chilling with my lovely painting

 The following spot on the airbridge was claimed by St. Joseph's Convent, San Fernando:


This painting showed a baby iguana lying on a fig leaf, relaxing in the tropical climate of this island.

The next spot on the airbridge was won by St. Joseph's Convent, Port of Spain:

This painting shows a cocoa house nestled in the bushes. It reminds us that Trinidad Cocoa is among the best cocoa on the planet and is used as a premium product.

The sixth painting to be unveiled belonged to Naparima Girls College.

It was a representation of the temple in the sea:

The final piece was also from Naparima Girls College.

This one was more abstract, but it truly reflected the diversity of the country:

This was truly an amazing experience and a wonderful opportunity to showcase my art to the wider branches of society.

I want to thank the bank for providing such an opportunity to young artists.

The journey was a long, tense one, but my parents, teachers and friends all brought me through to where I am right now, being able to relate an experience like this to you.

Victory always tastes sweet...(Part 2)

The suspense was killing everyone....

My entire household, my teacher, my friends...

We were all engulfed in a tense cloud of hope, optimism and even doubt.

Days, weeks passed without any word from the bank.

Our hopes began to sink..

Then they called us.

I realized that something was different when my art teacher, Mrs. Davis, interrupted my Maths class to give me some news.

My hopes soared as my eyeballs registered her ecstatic face.

Her bright smile activated the optimist switch in my head.

I was unprepared for what was next.

She said, "Johnathan, I have news from the bank. Your painting has been shortlisted for judging..."

YESSS!!!!!

Finally some stress relief. My day was instantly brightened.

I had to submit a brief explanation for my piece..

We all realized that this was the next step of judging.

This had to be good if I wanted a chance at this prize.

The brainstorming session lasted from that morning until 9:13pm that night when the description was sent to Mrs. Davis in completed form for submission to the bank.

The buzz of excitement was present for another couple of days as we reminisced in pride about the quality of both the painting and the explanation.

Then, suspense reared its hideous head once more as the bank released NO feedback on whether they even received my email!!!

AAAAUUGGHH!!

WHAT IF THEY DIDN'T GET IT?

WHAT IF I SPELT THE DESTINATION EMAIL ADDRESS WRONG?

ALL MY HARD WORK WASTED DUE TO A TYPO??!!!

Suspense, suspense, suspense

Then salvation,

Mrs. Davis couldn't take it anymore and called the bank.

It turned out that they received it the day after submission....

sigh,  couldn't they say something??

Time passed, long periods of non-communication emerged and feelings of disappointment filled my head as I visioned my painting being returned to me as one that 'also ran' in the competition.

A phone call was received.

A glorious phone call was received.

I was given an invitation to the Awards Ceremony, which would unveil the seven paintings chosen for display.

To be concluded...