Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

Giving old things a second chance is how Trevor St. George describes the art he creates. His show, titled “Finally! Folk Recycle Street Art” was held at the Big Black Box on Murray Street from March 10 to 17.

The art is a kaleidoscope of bright colours and familiar images on unfamiliar canvases.
St. George creates his art from old doors and windows, pieces of wood and plywood, glass, vinyl, galvanize and other things he finds, using oil and acrylic paints. Sometimes he makes an investment and buys some things, like plexiglass he cut and used to create 13 art pieces. He said painting on canvas is too easy for him, because it’s a flat surface. “I find things that have edges and ridges and things like that and work with that. When people remodeling their houses, they take down an old door and they don’t know the pain and the different lives that it went through. The man who made it is an artist and I can give him a second chance with a showcase like this. People know me as a street artist, so they will give me old doors and windows when they’re demolishing and remodelling.”
Finally! was a year in the making, following a fire in March 2015 which destroyed all of St. George’s previous work. He said it was devastating emotionally, but with the help of his friends and family, including Norma Charles, Wain Iton, Donna Dove and Roxanne Colthrust, he was able to pull himself together and put on the exhibition.
St. George says he paints constantly and has been doing so for over 50 years. He described himself as a functional recovering drug addict and art is the only rehabilitation program he has ever been to. “Art is my escape, this is the only escape I know. I love it and I just live it and I function with it. I’ve been maintaining it for the past many years, I can’t even say how many. Art is one of the only things that could save us from the madness we’re in right now, especially with the crime.”
He said he wants to do workshops with children, especially those who think art is expensive to get into. “Some people think it’s an expensive hobby because you have to buy canvas, paint and paintbrushes, but let me tell you something. You can get cheap paintbrushes and the cheapest paints, which is Trinity Paints, the oil paint cans are only $13 per can. It’s how you texture it and mould it out afterwards that makes the difference. You don’t see behind a canvas, what you see is the front, so it could be anything.”
He warned against an overuse of technology, saying a reason for some of the gruesome crimes being committed was that children are spending too much time behind a computer and so cannot empathize with people. He also said technology was going to become obsolete, but a lot of people were going to lose their minds to it before that. “Once you see you’re just spending time with a big screen in front of you, there’s no way out. That’s the problem they have in the world right now. They don’t have places for children to go to raise their intelligence to a higher level instead of just a computer. It’s more than just an iPad and a smartphone, it’s a different life. You get into functioning with just your hands and your fingers, and losing your mind. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and God will take back unused talent. Sometimes he’ll take it back in an awful way, but sometimes he will take it back because you need to be taught a lesson.”
He said envy, jealousy and greed are what are driving the crime rate and the killing in T&T. “What we need in T&T is to pass the love on. We have a problem with seeing each other going well. In this world, there are two things we’ve got to do: born and die. Between there, how you navigate your life, that’s how you’re going to go. Everyone has a chance to do good. Not everybody can be a lawyer, doctor, politician, but we all have that chance. We’re all created equal.”
To get in touch with St. George, call 221-6154 or 632 1574. Pieces range from $200 to $8,000.