A hive of activity at Studio 7

Yesterday Melanie took me to studio 7, Fernandez Complex, on the Eastern Main Road, Laventille. She was interviewing Jasmine who has a wonderful line of jewelry for an article.
http://www.geocities.com/jasminethomasgirvan/home.html
While she worked I met with Che first as he was the one I made plans with, and then made my way to Alex Smailes at Above Group and then Sabrina, who is visiting from NYC for several months. We saw Peter Doig in the cafeteria but didn't visit his studio.

Che's work is evolving in wonderful ways. After hanging out with him and the paintings for awhile I could feel a dialog with the work building up inside of me, and more than through my eyes, that is when I know that the work has engaged me, and that I'd like to promote it, perhaps buy it, have a relationship with it that is more than passing. Che may be in NYC soon to do an exhibition with a gallery on the Lower East Side.

Alex Smailes works with a camera. I saw the evolution of his work from a project he did for a Macmillan book a few years ago in Trinidad, to current projects he's working on. Hit the title above to see his creative company, lodged in a beautiful space in Studio 7. I like Alex's soft and gentle English accent though I can hardly understand him at times.

Sabrina was just setting up her work, so I can't say much, but this sort of exchange, between NYC and Trinidad, between Europe and Trinidad, is what I'm trying to get at with my exhibition Gulf Stream.

Later I met with Christopher Leacock and had a good long talk about everything art related and not. I imagine I'll be friends with him here. I support all his work and ideas. Ideas and work is what the country needs I think. We sat in Jacqueline's Patisserie for a long time and I took a pic of that little kid as he was dressed so cute!

This morning I went to Karen Stollmeyer's yoga class just down the block from me. It was everything I needed and more; the asanas, the philosophy and spirituality teachings, the references to the effects of the practice on the body and its functioning, as well as on the psychic cleansing and compassionate joyful blissful awareness that comes out of that. An all round experience of yoga.