By Eugenia O'Neal

Almost everywhere you turn in the BVI, you are greeted by the scenic and picturesque: Here, a spray of fuchsia-coloured bougainvillea spills over a white-washed wall; there, clouds go scudding over a turquoise sea; next door, a crowd of children in yellow uniforms bursting through school gates, their faces radiant as the sun. The islands offer a visual feast of which the Territory’s artists and photographers have taken full advantage — their canvasses and photos offer kaleidoscopes of brilliant colour as they highlight the beauty of the natural world or capture a special moment in the community’s cultural life.

Local Artists
Though the islands have no national art gallery, local art is everywhere; but you have to know where to find it. If you’re on the islands for only a day, take a quick visit to the Crafts Alive Village, where you can usually catch one of the Territory’s premier artists, Joseph Hodge, working on his canvasses. His watercolours, oils and acrylics depict the environment and scenes from the history and culture of the BVI.

Reuben Vanterpool, another of the Territory’s major artists, is often found at his studio in Great Mountain. Attracted to large canvasses, Mr. Vanterpool’s paintings often depict the Territory’s past and present cultural life. An example of his work can be found not far from his home, at the wall mural in Fahie Hill, a collaboration between Mr. Vanterpool and several other artists, including Dean “Ghost” Smith, Thor Downing, Quito Rhymer and Cedric Turnbull.

Diane Drayton is one of the BVI’s handful of women artists. Like the others, she too takes her inspiration from the natural environment and from the society. Paintings like her Girls in the Surf depict happy island scenes, but she also tries to capture what she calls “the typical scenes of island life” with her paintings of fishermen at sea and fishermen cleaning their catch or selling it. Currently, she is working on a series depicting the changing moods of the landscape she can see from her home on Todman’s Peak.

Sinuous metal shapes, faces that hark back to pagan practices, and the flora and fauna of the islands are reflected in the work of Aragorn Dick-Read, whose studio is located in Trellis Bay. Fashioned from copper or steel, the works are weatherproof and great for indoors or out.

Sunny Caribbee, Allamanda Art Gallery, Bamboushay Pottery and The Gallery are four galleries located on Main Street in Road Town that feature a wide range of art to suit a variety of tastes and budgets that will reward a leisurely browse. Though not everything on exhibit is local, they’re well worth the look if you’re hunting for something unusual and unique. 

Performing Arts
The islands also have a thriving performing arts scene. Checking the local newspapers or the Limin’ Times will help you find out what’s happening whilst you’re in town, but if you’re here between autumn and spring, you’re in for a treat. The H. Lavity Stoutt Community College’s Performing Arts Series usually starts in October and continues through April or May. Held at the College’s auditorium, concerts have included hugely popular saxophonists, like Dalan and Jeremy Vanterpool; musicians such as Kamau Georges; the College’s own chorale; and international Broadway stars like Kimilee Bryant from The Phantom of the Opera. Other performers have included Gramps Morgan, the Eroica Trio and IFE-ILE, a Cuban dance company.

St. Mary’s School on Virgin Gorda hosts the annual Jazz on the Hill concert in May that draws jazz aficionados from neighbouring islands to hear performers that have included the Vazquez Jazz Project, Arturo Tappin, the Virgin Gorda Jazz Ensemble and the Caribbean Jazz Project. The lineup is always good and the atmosphere is relaxed and easygoing, but the best part is that the funds raised benefit the school.

If you’re more into dance, you should try to catch the CADA Players, whose lively and energetic performances always draw an appreciative crowd. Choreographer Sarah Penney makes sure to present spirited and engaging dances with music that will have you tapping your toes. Performances often have a strong Latin or Spanish flavour, and dancers have been known to pull audience members from their seats for an energetic flamenco, so feel free to bring your castanets!

One of the great pleasures of travel is being able to enjoy the cultural expressions of other countries firsthand by taking time away from the beach to take in a local show or performance. Any time you spend away from the BVI’s lovely beaches doing just that will reward you with a fascinating insight into the local culture and values.

Joyce Titley and Her Dolls

Joyce Titley began making simple dolls from corn husks when she was 10 years old, but they were nothing like the dolls she makes now: fanciful mermaids and angels dressed in sparkling satins and silks; dreadlocked Rastafarians; costumed carnival revellers; and staid matrons dressed for church.

“That’s my favourite part,” she says, “giving them their personality, deciding what they are going to look like, what they will wear.”

And in her Main Street shop, the small army of dolls shows just how creative the former civil servant can be. In one corner lies a pink-haired mermaid, her tail a glittery orange studded with dark blue sequins, whilst in another corner stands a tall, solemn-faced doll that has the features of a well-known doctor in town. In front of the doctor look-alike is one of Mrs. Titley’s famous two-headed dolls, but this one has a surprise –– hold the doll up one way and she is black skinned, flip it upside down, and you have a white-skinned doll in your hands.

“That doll reflects our one humanity,” says Mrs. Titley, pointing out that it’s one of her fast sellers.

Mrs. Titley doesn’t work from design or set patterns. To make a doll, she begins by cutting out its form in paper and then using that to cut the cloth that she bastes before stitching it up properly on a machine. The doll form is then stuffed with fibrefill, and then the fun begins with the addition of the hair, the marking out of the facial features and the design of his or her clothes.

“Some are real fancy with shoes to match their clothes, stylish hats and long, lacy undergarments; but others, like the dancing girls, might be dressed more simply with just a bandeau top and a frilly skirt,” Mrs. Titley says. A medium-sized doll can take her up to two days to make, depending on the level of detailing she puts into it and the complexity of its dress and accessories.

Since she turned her doll-making skill into a business, Mrs. Titley has made hundreds of dolls. Visitors to her shop can watch her making dolls right before their eyes.

Titley recalls a customer who walked into her store with his girlfriend. After seeing one of her gift angel dolls, he rushed his girlfriend out of the store on some sort of ruse. “He told me he was going to put an engagement ring in the secret compartment and ask her to marry him. I like when my dolls become part of other people’s lives and stories.”

The Allamanda Gallery
Tel/Fax: 494-6680
The Allamanda Gallery, centrally located in Road Town, showcases stunning colour and black-and-white photographs of the British Virgin Islands. Inside, you will find cards and small gifts as well as beautifully framed archival photography. Worldwide shipping is available.

Soper’s Hole Wharf & Marina
West End, Tortola
Tel: 495-3087
Some shops at Soper’s Hole stock West Indian fine art and artefacts. Also available are antique and reproduction maps, prints and gifts.

Thee Artistic Gallery
Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour
Tel: 495-5104; 495-5338
Fax: 495-5761
This delightful gallery and gift shop has catered to the community for more than 10 years, offering tanzanite and opal jewellery, crystal ornaments, artwork, chimes, spices, music, frames, books and souvenirs. Be sure and stop by for lovely items to take back to your friends, family and kids. Don’t forget to treat yourself, too.

Take me shopping in the BVI.

Get a complete list of events, Bomba Full Moon Parties, public holidays, festivals, regattas and sporting events here.