Born and raised on the beautiful island of Jamaica, I am inescapably influenced and inspired by vivid memories of the island and it's inhabitants. Not unlike the legacy of struggle many rural Jamaicans inherit, the struggle of everyday American Black folk persists. As an artist, I feel compelled to paint evocative imagery reminiscent of the
descendants of the African Diaspora who reside and survive in the communities of Jamaica and abroad. By painting socially realistic subject matter, I hope to raise my viewers' consciousness of the plight of the everyday folk, everyday survivors. I grew up in Frankfield, an unincorporated town on the countryside of Manchester, Jamaica, where despite my uncomplicated and childlike contentment, my family subsisted on extremely meager resources. The most diligent people who were always seemingly content surrounded me. They were my inspiration. However, with age, experience, and my teenage relocation to America, I grew to fully understand the complexities of adult struggle. During pregnancy with my daughter, for instance, it was revealed to me that I suffered a rare degenerative kidney disease, IGA nephropathy, and would soon need to have a kidney transplant. In the interim, I would need dialysis; so for ten months, while facing my own mortality, I drew
and painted feverishly, just to maintain my sanity, which at times seemed fleeting. Three times a week, dialysis removed some of the toxins accumulating in my body. The remaining toxins, however, created a general feeling of
delirium. By maintaining the attitude that I would, at any cost, overcome this tremendous obstacle, constant prayer, some major miracles (namely, the blessing of a long-lost brother's generous donation of a kidney) and painting, I survived and will continue to paint, in remembrance of other survivors. Some of the specific influential memories that appear in my work are that of the working class; the stern elders; and dutiful children. Women appear frequently in domestic situations, just as I recall: care-taking, manufacturing, protecting and sharing wisdom with youth. My creative expansion, however, has allowed me to incorporate elements of religiosity including pieces that focus on the study of the human figure and black female/male spirituality and love.

My current medium of choice is acrylic paint, though; I will use a variety of media to achieve my creative goals. Because I paint frequently and rapidly, it is imperative that the paint dries quickly enough for me to layer colors and complete pieces, acrylic paint allows me to do that. My palette is warm and the bold splashes and strokes of color in ambiguous landscape settings, hopefully, add to the notion of memory in these paintings. I am driven to create by an uncontrollable urge to manifest these images that are constantly running through my mind. I hope to evoke a sense of warmth, understanding, and memory when I create. My work is progressive. I truly enjoy being able to paint what I feel.

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