Creating dear art during COVID - Renowned elderly developer discovers new talent in pandemic lockdown
Published:Sunday | November 8, 2020 | 12:18 AMJanet Silvera - Senior Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Winston Dear picked up a paintbrush once during a ‘Sip and Paint’ event late last year, and it meant nothing for him but an evening of socialising.
But when COVID-19 forced him into lockdown, the 80-year-old developer, renowned for his role in the development of The Lagoons at Montego Freeport in St James, picked up a paintbrush once again and started painting sceneries, birds and people.
Like many others worldwide, Dear’s first description of COVID-19 went like this: “It is a terrible, dreaded disease. So much so that I didn’t argue with my family when they put us (me and Denise) [his wife] on lockdown.”
A man not afraid to enjoy the best of his life, Dear said the lockdown brought boredom, “So I resorted to reading, but that, too, became boring, so I had to find something else useful to do with my life.”
The elderly gentleman picked up a paintbrush, but even then he wasn’t sure how to mix the colours, so he sought advice from his daughter-in-law, who herself is sort of an artist, he said.
“I had never been to school to learn how to paint, but I was drawn to the art, and today I believe it is my ability to draw plans as a land surveyor,” Dear told The Sunday Gleaner.
Whenever he painted any scenery, he would send the finished work to his daughter-in-law, who he implored to critique him honestly. “I told her not to be afraid to tell me the truth,” he stated.
Well, the truth is, Winston Dear has now painted 35 pieces and now knows how to mix paint, so his colours coordinate.
TRAVELS ALL OVER JA
A former board member of The Gleaner, Dear, who currently serves on the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) board and chairs the Irwin High School team of management, travels all over the country photographing some of the most beautiful landmarks with his wife.
He paints a lot of sea art, he said, “and landscape. When we visited Westmoreland recently, I took several photos, and from the photos I painted the fishing village in the area”.
The 200-year-old Tryall waterwheel in Hanover is one of his favourite pieces, and so is the historic chimney on the property, which boasts one of the island’s top golf courses and villa accommodations.
Dear thinks his ability to paint now in his 80th year in life comes from the numerous subdivisions he has designed, he quipped, as he reminisced on how he designed The Lagoons on the back of an envelope while flying on-board an aircraft to Kingston with the late Tony Hart.
Dear was colour blind for years, his wife Denise noted, but a laser operation cured it. “Now he is able to recognise all colours,” she stated.
“I never imagined it. His ability to paint this well was a big surprise for me, but it is a good. He has been able to deal with being at home all the time. He was always very active,” Denise added.
Today, Winston Dear paints then sends out his artwork to family members on WhatsApp, who in turn critique his work.
Denise Dear shared that her husband’s favourite is the Hummingbird, the Jamaican National Bird.
Dear has painted the Pelican bird; the breadfruit – brought to Jamaica from Tahiti; and he has even tried his hands at doing a portrait of his wife, but he is not impressed with the finished product.
Royal Palms trees, the White River in St Ann and a ‘Black is Beautiful’ in tribute of the global Black Lives Matter movement are among his collection.
And the possibility of exhibiting for charity is in the future, he shared.
“Josef Forstmayr of Round Hill has shown interest in having me auction my paintings, so I am seriously thinking of a COVID Show,” he stated.
The father of three children – Ian of Margaritaville Caribbean, Stephen of Scotiabank and Kathy-Ann, whose canvass is her sensational and orgasmic food creation – explained that painting during a pandemic gave a great sense of purpose to his life, a feeling of satisfaction and pride.