By Ayanna Kirton, Staff Reporter
Patrick Byles, artist and owner of Artventures International, explains the significance of one of his many paintings on display in his home gallery at Devon Close, St. Andrew. - Rudolph Brown/Staff Photographer
AFTER A successful career as a marketing executive, Patrick Byles is making good use of his years in retirement. He has taken his love for painting images that capture all aspects of Jamaica's beauty to another level, through the creation of Artventures International.
Byles describes the venture, run by him and his wife Claudia, as an alliance of art, business and technology, creating and producing ideas and products for what has been a hidden industry.
He adopted the idea of reproducing his own paintings and transferring them on to a variety of surfaces - ranging from coffee mugs to place mats - from the family of the late famous Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso. The Spanish painter's family owns a multi-million dollar enterprise, which has exclusive rights to his paintings, and they sell reproductions of his images in various forms as merchandise to art lovers worldwide.
Byles also gave examples of several artists overseas, including Thomas Kinkade, the California-based artist whose company Media Arts Group accumulated US$126 million in sales of items in 1999, featuring the artist's images transferred on to everything from calendars to cushions.
According to Byles, the lack of appreciation for the visual arts makes it increasingly difficult for artists to be rewarded financially for their efforts in Jamaica. "The work of an artist is not an easy task," he said. "Many can't appreciate the amount of time, energy and money that artists invest in their work."
However, Byles hopes that Artventures will serve as a business model to inspire young artists to be successful entrepreneurs, benefiting from their talent without sacrificing their creativity. The painter explains that although merchandising is often shunned by artists - who feel they will lose their credibility if their pieces are mass produced - by directing their products to certain niche markets an air of exclusivity could still be maintained.
"The intention is not to see my pieces everywhere, but at the same time I want to ensure that people know that there are Jamaican gift items of superior quality, made by talented artists right here in Jamaica," he said.
After 10 years of researching the business of art, thorough market analysis and millions of dollars in investment, Byles said the response to Artventures International has been most positive.
Though local interest has picked up recently and is increasing steadily, the majority of buyers are based overseas, Byles said. He maintained that by applying innovative means to marketing high quality works of art, the local industry could get the boost it desperately needs. As a result, exposing the vast potential of the industry and encouraging artists to develop their business skills has become his main focus. "I want to share this information with younger artists and encourage investors to take advantage of this less traditional industry because art is a very valuable commodity," he said.
