Meet Cher-Antoinette

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cher-Antoinette a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Cher-Antoinette, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?

I have had many challenges in my life and as I would say “…two marriages, two children, two divorces, and about five bad-ass relationships later” I was determined to follow my new found passion and in doing this hopefully bring some enjoyment and awakening to those who have had similar trials and tribulations.

I never have any regrets in life and perceive every challenge as a lesson to be learnt.

I commenced my journey in the visual arts in 2014 where I decided to let my work speak to my life.

As a self-taught emerging artist my artwork is diverse and quite different to that on the local scene and my motivation comes from the stature of the female, especially that of the African Woman as well as my life experiences.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

The past almost forty years of my life has been filled with sciences as a profession. In 1989 I became the first forensic scientist on the island of Barbados having been sent to acquire my Masters in Forensic Science at King’s College London; the government saw the need for such a skill and covered my full tuition and training, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

I have had a very interesting and intense career, although I do make every attempt to remain quiet and humble, but my job carried me to many islands in the region and I became the primary forensic point person for most of them until this area of expertise gained the attention of many and birthed more scientists.

I consider myself to be multi-faceted and have been successful at our National Independence Festival of Creative Arts (NIFCA) in Photography 2009, Literary Arts 2011/2012/2013/2014 and Fine Arts 2012/2013. I have also published a poetic anthology MY SOUL CRIES in 2013, VIRTUALIS: A New Age Love Story in 2014 and ARCHITECTS OF DESTINY: Poetry & Prose in 2015.

Cher-Antoinette’s Studio was opened in August 2017 and showcases my belief in “The Synergy of Life & Art!”. My media and style of choice are Alcohol Inks, Watercolour, Acrylics, Acrylic Fluid Art and Mixed Media expressions. Most recently I have ventured into Modern Pointillism, Hard-Edge Abstract Art and Textured Acrylic Art.

The studio is the home of C-Toi Wearable Art, a jewelry line that showcases my Acrylic Fluid Art. Each piece is one-of-a-kind and brings art to the average person in an affordable form. The pieces are also enhanced with healing crystals such as amethyst, hematite and black onyx.

My love of science drew me as an artist to acrylic fluid art as this medium truly expresses the chemical and physical interactions of the paint. Over the years I have developed techniques using substitute chemicals and paints as availability of commonly used materials proved to be difficult to acquire on island or just were prohibitive in price. The resulting unique images can be seen in the collection “FlowArtistry by Cher”.

I am a true believer in the philosophy of THE TREE OF LIFE, the tree of life commonly symbolizes a connection to the afterlife, ancestral roots and divinity. For me it is important to know where we came from and keep that connection as it is critical in the foundation of our movements forward. This theme can be seen in many of my visual works and my jewelry.

I was recently awarded the prestigious prize for the Best Amateur Artist at the Annual Carmichael Exhibition 2023 for my painting “Tree of Life: Reconnect”.

Within the next eighteen months I embark on retirement and eagerly look forward to embracing my passion for art on a full time basis as well as showcasing my poetry and performances with POETREE BARBADOS, a newly formed creative agency with a mission to cultivate a vibrant literary arts community that celebrates and elevates the voices of poets, authors, and storytellers locally and globally.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Over the years I have recognised that it is important to adopt a code by which you live and only you can determine that code.

For me it was simple – Live Your Truth! I refused to follow the societal script and conform. As I age gracefully ( I am now 62) I firmly believe that most persons walk around in a state of delusion, a state that has been devised for them, whether intentionally or as a result of circumstance or as a seed of their traditional societal habits.

These practices are very hard to break, and can only be resolved if one stops, re-groups, reflects and then re-engages.

One must ask oneself the hard questions, determine your intended path, but be aware that just because it does not occur in YOUR timeframe, that that is not equivalent to failure.

Failure only comes when one stops and does NOTHING.

Everything happens for a reason, and it is always a good reason, even though we cannot see it at the time, but be assured that it is. Even in grief, we must learn so that we can continue to live with purpose.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

I am a child of the Universe.

When I feel overwhelmed, I stop, I mean literally stop, even breathing sometimes, and I sit still, close my eyes.

I breathe again, and I listen to my breaths and my heartbeat, getting slower and steadier.

I then clear my mind. I count backward from 100.

Usually before I even reach 60, I am feeling calmer. I open my eyes and refocus. I close them again and I continue to sit still and listen.

Most times, whatever was bearing down on me is dispersed and the solution to the challenge I was facing is revealed.

What I also must say here is that you must always give yourself permission to admit that your strategy was not working, your timeline was flawed, your expectations were unreasonable, but in doing this never move away from your code or moral compass, those are what keep you steady and on course.

Remain humble and just know that once you are aware of your purpose, once you accept it (because it may not be what you thought), once you listen to the Universe and the directions of the Divine (in whatever form they take for you), you will succeed.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.artworkarchive.com/profile/cher-antoinette
• Instagram: @cher.antoinette_studio
• Facebook: @cherantoinettestudiobarbados