I was on a jazz cruise on the Holland Noordam from January 30 through February 6, with stops in Nassau, San Juan, and SXM on February 3. I got off the ship about 8 a.m. and started walking to Chesterfield’s, the designated meeting place for the Art Tour convoy. After determining none of the participants were inside having breakfast, my Kindle and I sat outside looking for familiar faces. I recognized Elaine before she did me and called her name. She started walking toward me with a big smile and arms outstretched. I knew a day that started with a big hug was going to be a very good day indeed. (It was a joy meeting and spending the day with you, Elaine.) Shortly after, KayMike’s car drove up with Norm and his friend, Tom, in the back seat; Betty and Tom’s wife were enjoying a day without “the guys.” We were off.
The first stop was in Sandy Ground at the studio of
Jean-Pierre Straub, an artist who works with 50 types of inlaid wood. He rarely colors the wood, relying instead on the grains for color and texture. Someone asked where he acquired his wood, and he told us he goes to France for it. He had several samples of wood out on a table, and it’s just amazing what he can do with them. This was a most unusual medium to me, but I loved it and plan to return in June when I can spend more time and, perhaps, money.
We then proceeded to Friar’s Bay where Lady Ruby Bute has her home and, with
Stephanie Tihanyi, her gallery next door. After letting us in to her studio, Ruby asked us to sit in a circle. She first asked Stephanie (whose work is in vibrant colors I was very drawn to) to tell “her story,” which was short, much to Ruby’s surprise. Ruby’s wasn’t, and she started telling us about her life, early interest in art, later interest in poetry, and guitar-playing father and his musician friends. This is a woman who has a lifetime of stories to share. At the conclusion of the chat before we started looking around the gallery, Ruby gave each of us a book of her poetry titled “Floral Bouquets to the Daughters of Eve”; her art work is on the cover of the book. It’s hard to put into words the warmth and generosity of this woman, but our time with her was very special indeed. Elaine and I wondered later how the heritage of the island will be maintained when folks like Ruby are no longer with us. I picked up a couple more of her prints (acquired three a few years ago when she had a table of her work displayed at Divi) as well as a couple of tiles of Stephanie’s work.
Then Norm led us on a trek through Marina Royale in search of
Antoine Chapon's gallery. As indicated in another thread, his work is very “serene” and mostly in fairly soft pastels. I personally prefer brighter colors, but the day just went to show us that there’s something for everyone. Antoine was not at the gallery when we were so this is an artist we didn’t meet.
Sir Roland Richardson was in his studio (the upstairs of his gallery) which has a lovely garden in the back. Parking was at a premium so Elaine dropped me off and Norm dropped off Kay and Mike. At this gallery, Mike pointed out that both Lady Ruby Bute and Sir Roland Richardson have received the “Knight in the Order of Orange Nassau Award, Dutch Royal Decorations from the court of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands” award; Richardson in 2007 and Bute in ___? (Mike, do you remember?) After I had toured the gallery, I walked out front to wait for Elaine, who said she would circle the block. Before seeing her walk up (she found a place to park), I noticed that Kay, Mike, Tom and Norm were driving off with nary a goodbye. It was a good thing Elaine had a copy of the tour locations and knew where the next stop was!
We then were off to Rambaud Hill to the gallery of
Alexandre Minguet, run by his daughter. This was perhaps the largest gallery of the day and was chock-full of his art. His daughter said Minguet believes art should be affordable and sells reproductions of his work in “postcard” form; these are suitable for framing and are approximately 8½ x 12 in size. I picked up four for only $25, a far cry from the price of “Untitled Flowers” in the brokerage link above. After unpacking today, I found it interesting that, along with the postcards, I had been given a magazine titled “The Unique Villas by Carimo,” a collection of luxury real estate on St. Martin. I haven’t yet figured out the connection between this magazine and Minguet.
Then it was time for lunch at Paradise View. Norm had suggested BZH Creperie in Oyster Pond, and I want to thank him for indulging me by going to Paradise View. I wanted to say hello to Bernadeen who runs the MaDoudou shop next door to the restaurant, and I was able to collect another hug. I think we all had crepes as we were starting to run in to a time issue (at least in my mind) and were assured the crepes wouldn’t take very long. They were delicious, and it was nice to relax and chat for a little while.
We left Paradise View at 1:30 p.m. with two more artists yet to visit, and I was due back on the ship by 2:30 p.m. Off to Oyster Pond for
Marie Moine's gallery of ceramics. I’ll definitely be going back here in June to spend more time as I was quite taken with her work and there just wasn’t time to appreciate it all. I had just enough time to pick up a small display plate showing a Caribbean home surrounded by palms and greenery, and then we had to run off to
The gallery of
Dona Bryhiel, which was just around the corner from Moine’s gallery. One side of the gallery is devoted to her work representing Provence and the other to St. Martin. We really weren’t able to spend any time here for me to be able to say anything about it so perhaps someone else can chime in. I said goodbye to the folks in the other car, and Elaine returned me to the cruise pier.
This was probably the most memorable six hours I’ve spent on St. Maarten. I’m very grateful to Norm and JeffV for arranging this and to Elaine for being my personal chauffer. Thanks also to Kay and Mike for joining us; it was nice meeting you. Art is an aspect of the island I hadn’t yet tasted and I look forward to more tastes when I return in June. Thanks to all who made this day happen. It was very special.
Slide Show Pictures weren't allowed at Minguet's gallery and I ran out of steam (and time) for gallery pictures after that.
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