One young man has decided to take his art to the streets of Castries in an effort to expose the St Lucian public to his work. Gregory Lenny Prince says he has been a painter most of his life, starting in the early 90s.
Stationed outside of FirstCaribbean Bank, opposite to the William Peter Boulevard, Prince displayed on Thursday, some of what he considers to be his best work to date.
The STAR was lucky enough to catch this painter as he pulled out a large portrait of an old wooden house on what appeared to be a farm.
As he laid it down to rest on the building, scores of people immediately slowed down to a snail’s pace to catch a glimpse of the colourful and attractive portrait. One man was even willing to pay for it, if Prince could only hold off other potential buyers as he rushed to get the required funds.
Speaking to the STAR, Prince says he has his own gallery where he paints and puts his work on display but according to him, people do not come in as frequent as he would like.
“I decided to stay somewhere in town where I can feed the public and introduce them to my paintings. They can interact with the artist and I can give them reasonable prices. My work is on showcase at a place called Frame Plus.
“When people go to the place, the price will remain as it is but when people come to me in the town, I can negotiate with them on a best price,” said Prince.
The young painter says he finds his inspiration in all aspects of life. Everything he looks at, Prince says, would inspire him.
“My inspiration comes from God and that’s the truth. Everything He created . . . Even nature itself inspires me to paint. People, places and things from all over give me inspiration.
“I learnt painting from an aunty of mine. When I grew up as a boy, I noticed the various paintings on books. I was really impressed with one drawing —that was drawing of a guy getting shot. It was done with a pencil.
“It showed that the bullet passed through the door and the abdomen of the guy was shown to have a wound caused by the bullet. There was a lot of blood falling from the wound. That’s when I knew you can do anything with a pencil and so, I decided to draw from that point,” said the painter.
Prince says he has always looked up to artists such as Earl Etienne, Jerry Henderson, and Darius David among a lengthy list to add to his daily motivation and inspiration. These painters, he says, have helped shape and develop his talent.
He adds that some of his work have been well received internationally including countries such as France, England and Antigua. Prince also indicated that his desire is to become a very successful artist who will one day help other aspiring artist develop their talent.
“I want to be a successful artist. I want to help people—other artists on the street. I see a lot of guys out there on the street, for instance there is a friend of mine who went to school with me at Leon Hess and now I saw him taking drugs on the street. I want to make a change. I want to take out some of those guys on the street and help them.”
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