Shayon Price creates wonders in the world of art
Published:Saturday | January 26, 2019 | 12:00 AM
What does a picture tell us about the child who created it? Picasso wrote: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once they grow up.” Child art, like most child behaviour, is direct and uncensored, and for 11-year-old Shayon Price, it is a way to have fun, putting her in the driver’s seat that provides freedom – the freedom of choice and feeling.
A grade six student at the Portsmouth Primary School in St Catherine, Price paints freely and with pleasure, enjoying the experience of moving paint over paper and watching lines, shapes, and colours come to life.
“Art makes me feel happy. The colours bring out the personality of each character that I draw and makes everything on the paper come alive,” Price said.
Without any professional training, Price is able to create her own cartoon characters and accurately recreate images of her favourite series, including the Flintsones, a Hanna-Barbera Production that originally aired on ABC-TV in prime time from 1960 to 1966. It was the first animated series on network television.
The show that was a model for many other animated television series had a major impact on the world of animation, and many cartoons, even today, show obvious influences from the Flintstones. “The way each character acts, I react differently to them than most modern cartoons. I am motivated to draw each character and in my own style,” Price said.
Artistic skill
Fuelled by her passion, Price is confident that she will continue with her craft beyond her childhood years. She is desirous of learning to paint and has already chosen the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts to further develop her artistic skills.
“Usually, when I have completed my homework, I get to draw. It takes me about two to three hours, and I get more time on a Saturday after classes,” Price said.
Her mother, Suzette Harriott, said that since her daughter was seven years old, she could look at an object and recreate.
“Her talent is unexpected. When she was seven years old, she was drawing well and with definition. Over the years, she has continued to do well and often creates things from scratch. She even watches YouTube and experiments with different art and craft,” she said.