Prolific Berbice female artist and farmer lives through her canvased art

Nov 20, 2022 News

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By Malisa Playter Harry

Kaieteur News – When we look at a painting depicted in brilliant colours with the stroke of every brush, pencil, or crayon, whether it is on a piece of paper or a canvas, whether it is of a building or just breathtaking scenery, a whirlwind of emotions and thoughts are triggered, particularly if that piece speaks to you.

For Azeena Tahsir, a young painter of Lot 101 John’s Settlement, Port Mourant, Corentyne, Berbice, the time she spends painting dozens of paintings, is the quintessential moment of her life. Just as a painting would inspire someone, Azeena always finds inspiration to paint.

The Waterfalls was given the opportunity to speak with the young artist and it’s simply impossible not to enjoy her company and conversations, her personality is bursting with sunshine and her passion for painting was even more astounding. Azeena considers herself an introvert and gets anxious easily and nervous when she gets a lot of attention, but the moment she begins talking about her passion for painting, you are sure to find a whole new person.

Azeena paints as a hobby and has now chosen to also make it a business, and her story is quite an interesting one. It all started with henna dye, that’s right, henna dye. The Berbician explained that one day someone she knew very well bought some henna dye, but later decided that they no longer wanted it, they were about to throw it out when she asked for it instead.

“I took it and started to draw on my hand and I thought it looked really nice but when the henna was done, I searched all over to buy”.  She added that she bought some more in Rose Hall Town at a shop and she began drawing again. It sparked something creative in her and she decided to use coloured pencils and drew a lot of things on paper, Azeena moved on to crayon and, eventually, her sister-in-law saw how gifted she was and told her that paint is sold in New Amsterdam.

With no background in the art field, Azeena nurtured her newfound passion and even surprised herself!

“I was actually surprised that I could do this. I couldn’t believe that I could draw and paint like this,” she said gleefully. Dabbling in paint a few times turned into a hobby, and to further develop her skills, Azeena watched tons of YouTube videos. Hurdles were sure to fall in her path, but it did not stop her.

“I did not have the internet at the time so if I go somewhere and there is the internet, I would watch videos and go back home and start drawing. Everything I learnt is from YouTube.” The talented woman said.

When she started on paper, she would take pictures of her finished piece and post it on her social media platform, where it garnered attraction from one by the name of Mark Reddi, who complimented her work and encouraged her to try painting on canvas.  This was something new for Azeena, as she knew nothing about painting on canvas.

“I asked him what canvas was because I didn’t know. He explained what it was, so when I went back to New Amsterdam, I saw this thing marked ‘artist canvas’ and I bought one.” But Azeena said she did not paint on it until after a few months because she was extremely anxious. According to her, she was worried she would make a mess of it. However, when that day came, it was no turning back, she has been painting since 2018 and says she has no plans to stop.

The gifted Berbician says she draws inspiration from the surroundings, but her favourite piece to date is that of the Kaieteur Falls. She visited the magnificent wonder of the world in 2021 and took several pictures, using one of those snapshots as her guide to painting the longest single-drop waterfall in the world.

“Guyana is my inspiration and ever since I visited the Kaieteur Falls, like I couldn’t believe it was Guyana and I really wanted to paint Guyana, I love Guyana.”

It’s usually a process that takes several days to complete, the shortest time took her to finish a painting was four hours, without any disruptions.  But because she also helps out her mom with the shop they have, she paints a little, tends to customers at the shop, then returns to painting. Now she chooses to do a lot of her work in the evening when there are no distractions.

While Azeena would love for her work to be exposed, she is also consumed with anxiety when she thinks about all the attention, she can get from it. Her biggest worry is being criticized or having her work criticized.

“I am an introverted person. If someone asks me to paint something for them, I get so nervous that I might mess it up, so that’s why when I paint something, if they like it, I sell it.”

Azeena expressed that she hopes to become more confident in her work and also dreams to travel the world to be even more inspired to paint. Her smallest painting, a 15 by 15 centimetres piece retails for $2000, while her largest, fifty centimetres by seventy centimetres, retails for $25,000.

She relayed that she is thankful that her family is supportive of what she does, as they would help to supply her with painting materials when she needs them.

But would you believe that Azeena is also a farmer? Yes, she is! This extraordinary Berbician helps her father with cash crop farming in Black Bush Polder.  They plant bora. She added that she loves it and loves working in the field with her dad, while at the same time using the scenery and landscape of the community as inspirations to paint.

Azeena dreams to visit Michael’s Art Store located in the United States of America, and she also hopes to witness both her parents making the hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

You can find some of Azeena’s magnificent work on her TikTok page oze_art and also on Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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