Artwork and music are superfluous in Cahuita. Walking down streets lined with murals and statues, on any given day, one can hear the sounds of calypso and reggae pouring out of the local bars and restaurants. There are a number of common themes in the artwork that reflect the local diversity and culture. Murals throughout the town often depict Cahuita point and local fisherman plying the waters of the Caribbean. Others show the array of local flora and fauna that make this place such a treasured ecological resource. Paintings of reggae musicians and numerous lion statues reflect the Jamaican heritage of many residents. Still other statues reflect a strong indigenous identity.
As we began to systematically photograph and record the location of artwork around town, these patterns became even more clear and intriguing. We learned that two artists in particular produced many of the murals throughout the town and continue to produce artwork for sale to locals and tourists. As we continue the process of documenting the artwork of Cahuita, my colleagues and I hope to learn more about the significance of these works to the locals. When we talked to the residents of Cahuita about the artwork, they expressed a connection not only to the works but also to the artists. We had the opportunity to speak with one local artist, Richard Campbell, who has produced many of the paintings we documented around town. Campbell’s passion for art, joy of life, and fondness for the Cahuita landscape were clear in his responses to our inquiries. Our conversation with Mr. Campbell is transcribed below.
-Devin
What is your name? – “Richard Campbell”
How old are you? – “63”
How long have you been painting? – “I started painting from a kid, in Sunday School. My father was an artist and I just like nature you know, I paint, and my daughter paints, and her mother too. They live in Switzerland, I have done art shows in Zurich. I have done art shows in Canada. I went to University in Canada. I like to paint. It is real nice to be an artist because then you can enjoy using the colors and you can experiment with anything you want to add colors too and you can create things and put colors in or just colors alone. Anyone can be an artist but it is a talent too.”
What gives you inspiration to paint? – “Nature. Nature is beautiful.”
What do you paint? – “Landscapes, I paint normally landscapes of Cahuita and Caribbean landscapes. I like painting the fishes. Once I made a wall in Zurich, Caribbean fishes, so much beautiful fishes…corals and fishes. It is nice to put people too in the painting. Some people don’t like people in the painting. I normally like to paint ladies working or men working too in the painting. Doing some kind of typical work like opening coconut, or cleaning the fish, or the women with the basket on her head or walking with the fish, or the guy pushing the boat. It’s like survivors.”
What comes to mind when painting? – “Just use colors. Normally, the artist likes to know we have colors we can use, and that’s what they do.”
Where are you from? – “I was born in Limon city but I’ve lived in Cahuita maybe about 35 years. They have a place in Limon called Pasaje Cristal, on the Boulevard in Limon center, on the way to the park, and there are some good artists there. Some of them are my students, they guys I used to give art classes to when I was in Limon. I used to work more with kids, and some of those guys were kids when I was teaching and now they paint even better than I like to see all the good painters than I. They use more oil colors I use more acrylics. My style is more like you know a primitive kind of style. Not too much detail. My style of painting doesn’t take me too long to paint. You can dominate the colors and use the brushes, you have to know how to use the brushes.
Do you have art shows to display your work? – “Yes, I’ve done art shows in Limon, and San Jose, Switzerland, and Canada.”
Where do you like to paint? – “I like painting in the street, yeah man I don’t care to paint anywhere. Anywhere I go I still paint. I’m never out of colors or brushes, I always have colors or brushes, oils or acrylics.”
Do people in the community request art from you? – “I mostly work in carpentry. People around here they know what I do so they can tell me about something they want to paint. Plenty of money…no, plenty of work, no money. But anyway that’s nice, it’s more nice to have friendship and enjoy life. Life goes so fast but I enjoy it.”
Do you think you will stay in Cahuita for the rest of your life? – “I don’t know but I like it here.”
Does this feel like home? – “Yes”