Latest update December 23rd, 2024 3:40 AM
Monica Higgins turned her creative talents into a thriving business
Independent and Enterprising women…
Monica displays her creations.
Monica Higgins is one of those naturally talented persons, with a strong artistic and creative inclination, who sort of just stumbled on her business idea.
Presently involved in fabric painting, tie-dyeing and other designing of clothing and soft home furnishings for the past fifteen years, Monica proudly asserts that she was not formally taught the basic principles of any of these art forms, but plunged headlong into the business of fabric design and home furnishings, after she quite accidently discovered that she had a natural gift for such pursuits.
“My mother lives overseas, and she would send these little tubes of fabric paint, but at the time I didn’t even know they were fabric paint; I just had them knocking around, but the good thing is I never threw them away. I would merely sweep them up when they sometimes fell on the floor, and gather them up under a table.
“But then months after, out of curiosity, I decided to take a closer look at the tubes, and then is when I discovered they were fabric paint. So I got a little excited after reading the instructions, and decided to experiment.”
That was the beginning of a whole new world for the erstwhile housewife, who soon morphed into an enterprising and independent Businesswoman.
Monica became a prolific fabric painter, who later began to sell her handiwork.
She also started experimenting with tie-dyeing, and would employ persons to sew various garments which she then hand painted or tie-dyed.
At first the response was not so good Monica said, as fabric painting was not so popular; but later business improved after people began to appreciate what she was doing. By then her name had become a household word synonymous with her craft.
Monica said that she gets a lot of inspiration from flowers and other natural things.
“I look at these things and I incorporate them into my designs- transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary,” she declared proudly during our recent interview.
And she has taken her business a step further by teaching persons the art of fabric painting and tie dyeing. She concluded her last class in December.
More of Monica’s handiwork.
To help her in the latter pursuit, she has enrolled at the Burrows’ School of Art, where she has been a student for the past few months. There she is perfecting her craft by learning the finer points.
Monica is presently preparing to exhibit some of her handiwork in Atlanta Georgia in March, at the Guyana Trade and Tourism Expo.
This was made possible through the collaborative efforts of Go-Invest and the Guyana Art and Craft Association.
She has already participated in exhibitions at Guyexpo and at a trade fair in Trinidad.
Her business really took off after the exhibition, she points out, although she had seen some improvement in her sales subsequent to her participation at the first ever Linden Town Day.
She acknowledges that business in Linden could be challenging sometimes, but she continues to persevere.
Presently a member of the Guyana Arts and Craft Association, her dream is to expand her business, by opening an outlet in Georgetown, as the Linden market is not as lucrative as it once was.
“Business presently is mostly seasonal- you know around Christmas time, or for Emancipation when people want clothing that reflects a certain theme, they would come and place orders or buy whatever they like out of my collection.” (Enid Joaquin)
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