Kittitian Artiste Says Viral Painting Inspired By Most Beautiful Flag In The World
Basseterre, St. Kitts, September 23 , 2020 (ZIZ News):Kittitian artist, Clydawna James, better known as Jadé says her Independence themed painting dubbed “Triumph Over Struggle” was inspired by “one of the most beautiful flags in the world”.
In a brief interview with ZIZ on Tuesday, the 22 year old former Visual Arts teacher said her painting of St. Kitts and Nevis’ national flag was just an idea that she had about one year ago.
She said the way Kittitians and Nevisians feel about their flag helped to inspire the art.
“I’ve always seen our flag to be one of the most beautiful flags in the world. I just like the red and the green, how they compliment each other, along with the stars [white stars] against the black background and the yellow stripes on either side. We as Kittitians we love our flag. Anywhere you go, we always compliment where our flag is so I decided why not bring out the meaning of the flag”, Jadè expresses.
The National Flag, designed by Edris Lewis-Viechweg shows the colour green which is a representation of fertile land, two yellow stripes which depict year round sunshine, the two white stars which represent hope and liberty, the black which represents our African Heritage and the red which represents blood-shed through colonialism.
Jadé who is also a national studying at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago, said the piece took more than a week to complete.
“All in all it took me about two weeks to finis the entire painting because I had to set it and let it dry, the go over it and stuff like that. It was a build up of different layers to finish the complete painting”, James explained.
She is currently on a TVET Scholarship pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Arts and has been forced to take virtual classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The young artist said that she was lost for words after realizing that her painting had gone viral on social media, gaining thousands of likes during the 37th Anniversary Independence weekend. She explained that requests to purchase the painting have since been pouring in.
“I have been getting so many requests. At first my decision was to not sell the piece. I am not selling the original piece but persons have contacted me and told me that they really would like the piece so I am currently doing a replica of the original. It will be hand panes just like the original”, she said.
Clydawna said that her goal is to have a mural of the original piece done at the RL Bradshaw International Airport and the seaport so that guests can view it upon arrival to the twin island federation.
She said that persons interested in seeing more of her paintings can view them on Instagram at _jahde.w.