The Village Shop

The Village Shop, St. Peter. A 16 x 20 acrylic painting by
Mark Phillips

I was afforded the opportunity to visit this tiny section of Church Street, Speightstown a few weeks ago. I was delivering a prize to the winner of one of my Facebook promotions.

Thank you, Joan!

As soon as I got out of the car, I was struck by the beauty of this scene. I could not put my finger on why this composition seemed so perfect. Maybe it was the mid-morning sunlight on the buildings or the contrasting colours against the sky. I just knew that I wanted to paint this.

One of my weaknesses as a painter is that I find it difficult to compose paintings without detailed reference photos. I do not easily visualize the finished piece unless I had seen it or something very similar, in person. I admire the artist that can compose a painting completely from imagination. Fortunately for me, Barbados is filled with these perfect compositions just waiting for me to discover!

This scene brought back memories of my visits to the village shop as a child in St. Philip. My grandfather would place me in the bar of his very large Raliegh 3-speed bicycle and take me to Mrs Hunte's shop in Marley Vale. Apparently, this was a weekly ritual that was going on for many years. He would give her a list of all the grocery items he needed and she would transfer the items into an exercise book. She would then proceed to weigh the sugar, flour, potatoes, etc. on her old balance scale with the lead weights. Each item would be packed in brown paper bags and Pa Pa would pack them in his large leather bag that fitted perfectly over the front handlebars. Reusable shopping bags and environmentally friendly packaging is nothing new! 

I don't recall seeing any money passed. I assume that there was some kind of running account. Even after Pa Pa retired and we moved to Merricks, about a mile away from where we were living, Pa Pa still made his weekly bicycle trip to Mrs Hunte shop even though there were 2 similar shops closer. 

There was a community spirit that existed in these villages quite unlike what we see today in the heights and terraces on the island. In Momma's shop in Merricks, St. Philip, it was not unusual to hear neighbours leaving messages "by de shop", for other villagers, knowing with full confidence that the message will be passed on. Momma's shop was the hub of the village. It was located on the main road by the bus stops and everyone leaving and returning to the village shouted Momma. Most of the village children played some form of sports until dark on the pasture by Momma's shop. All of us usually made the shop our last stop before going home. This was to purchase an Orchard juice box or a Pine Ju-C to quench our thirst after hours of play. Sometimes 3 or 4 of us would share one drink.  It was not unusual for Momma or her daughter who worked in the shop to tell me, "Stop by your Gran Gran for your tea. Your mother working late tonight". Such was the community spirit. I was indeed raised by a village!

We children knew which shops had the best treats and we were thought nothing of walking long distances to get them. Soda Biscuits, 4 for a cent at Mr Critchlow's shop, 10 cent ice lollies or "suck-a- bubbies" from Mrs Batson down Sealy Hill and my favourite, DG Ole Jamaican Ginger Beer sold only at Ms Clarke shop in East Point. There is nothing like an ice-cold gingerbeer after you walked a mile to get it!

A few of you has commented on the fact that I am not posting as often as I used to. Let me assure you that it is not that I don't want to. I have just been very busy with non-art related work and I was using all of my spare time to actually finish some of the many pieces that I have in varying stages of completion. I have 3 pieces in my Flamboyant Collection that need only a couple of hours work each and the "Long Bay Blue" shown in my last post and this piece are all to be completed this week. This piece will need about 8 to 12 hours work to complete because of the many, many straight lines that require immense concentration. As soon as things settle down I will again start with the promotions and giveaways!

As always, thank you for reading. I appreciate the comments and the kind words of encouragement. Until next time when I will share some more of my work and a little about what makes me tick, please leave a comment. And, I will really appreciate if you share this post with your friends. To make sure that you don't miss any future posts, Please enter your email address in the subscribe by email box on the right.


Mark Phillips

Artist
Email:- mark@phillipsbajanart.com
Website:-www.phillipsbajanart.com