Valdeen Shears-Neptune
Annalise Dos Ramos’ eldest art student is 89 and her youngest, two. She treats them, and those of all ages in between, the same. Each gets a warm, welcoming smile, patience and unending encouragement. Dos Ramos uses her artistic gift to show others how to use art and painting as a therapeutic process.
Dos Ramos can be seen most days at the Irie Elephant, Rookery Nook, Maraval, but is equally at ease coaxing the senior citizens at the Lodge Nursing Home. Her physically disabled younger charges at the Princess Elizabeth Home also benefit from Dos Ramos’ ideology that “art is for the soul”.
“I believe art comes from within. I want to bring awareness that the power of art and creativity is for everyone, and there is no age limit to creativity.
“I love sharing my talent and passion and am honoured and humbled to have been doing art with physically challenged children and the elderly a few years now. Working with these groups has opened my eyes and heart and proven to me the therapeutic power of art.
“Creating art also is a form of relaxation and at the same time allows for the building of confidence, self-awareness and expression,” she said during one her sessions, this one themed Coffee and Canvas.
“I am now discovering, even for myself, that painting is just as therapeutic and rewarding as it is messy,” she said, her trademark smile beaming, as she applied paint to a half-finished piece.
Giving back, she said, doesn’t only come from her volunteer work at the elderly or children’s homes, it comes from her intimate investment into every piece and every student she teaches.
Recently, Dos Ramos began offering art classes at the Irie Elephant in three separate themes: Coffee and Canvas, Wine and Canvas and Kids and Canvas (which also includes parents). A member of the Women in Art Society of T&T, Dos Ramos, said her favourite media to work with are oil, pastel and acrylics.
“You start with a blank canvas, then the magic happens when you start to paint and go home with your very own masterpiece. Anyone, of any age, can let their inner Picasso shine and we do it through loads of fun and laughter,” she said.
“This is the most fun and relaxation I have felt in such a long time, truly,” agreed one mature student at Coffee and Canvas on August 9.
Inner Greens
Dos Ramos’ work can be seen not just during planned exhibitions or at the Nook, but also on the outside wall of the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain. Made for the first competition she ever entered, it is called Inner Greens and was one of few chosen selections.
Her love for art stems from watching her mom express herself on canvas, as well as seeing the work of her elder brother, Russell, a photographer. And while her mom did not pursue a career in art, Dos Ramos capitalised on every opportunity to express herself and showcase her work.
From St Monica’s Private School and St Dominic’s College to the Miami Dade Community College she was able to get a stronger feel for art. On the way she dabbled in woodwork, welding, jewelry, photography, clay sculpture, figure drawing and colour design. She said that Miami, having a diverse art culture and society, opened her eyes and mind to a whole new creative world.
Dirtied fingers
Dos Ramos enrolled in classes at the International Fine Arts College, where she branched off into the graphic arts and advertising. She knew the market for graphic artists was just opening up.
It was a move that would prove rewarding for several years, but Dos Ramos said it “missed giving me the chance to get my fingers dirty”.
Dos Ramos holds a brush mostly at her art sessions, as she prefers to use the pallet knife and her fingers to paint pieces as vibrant as they are creative.
“I come up with all the art pieces for classes, then I paint something from before hand, so they can see the finished product and it encourages them even further than just being told what to do,” Ramos said.
“The difference with working kids, adults and the elderly, is that children walk in with such excitement and a feel of freedom, with no hesitation to hold the paint brush and just start painting, while its the other way around for adults. They walk in skeptical, with their creative guards up, and it is only when they engage in the process, you see their creative soul.
“That’s the power of art,” she said.
More info: Email: artforthesoul2016@yahoo.com