Jean Taylor-Bushay and Grandsons

    One artist that has always captivated my attention, not only because of the caliber of art she produces but also for the person she is, is Jean Taylor-Bushay. She is an artist who has made significant contributions to the overall development of the Jamaican art scene and who has in her own right worked as an ambassador, in other territories, for Jamaican art and more specifically Jamaican pottery. I have known her for over four years now and on conducting this interview she further reinforced my estimation of her; that there is far more substance to Jean Taylor-Bushay than meets the eye. The following is a question and answer session delving into the life of this fascinating artist.

WJ: “How early in your life did you realize that you had artistic talent?”

JTB : “Not until my last year in high school, around 1964.”

WJ: “How much involved were you in art at the secondary level?”

JTB: “I never realized I had any such talent until the latter part of my high school years.”

WJ: “When did you realize you wanted to become a professional artist?”

JTB: “When I first visited the art school and more specifically the ceramics department, that was when it was at Central avenue, in Kingston Gardens, the very first time I saw pottery, never knew of it before. I was so intrigued and so taken up with it that I got enrolled as a part time student at the art school during my last year in high school, I did a term as a part-time student and then enrolled as a full-time student for the four year course.”

WJ: “Were there any artists who inspired you while you were growing up?”

JTB: “I would say yes… he was really a designer, a designer for Batta Shoe factory, in those years, a Mr. Cooke; he has probably passed on by now. He, I would say ,was more of a source of encouragement than inspiration because when I started asking certain questions about art he suggested to my mother, who use to cook for the shoe factory, that I should go and check out the art school.”

WJ: “When were you first exposed to ceramics as a career option?”

JTB: “The day I saw it (she laughs) it’s funny, you would know because you have done pottery demonstrations; people just get pulled in to the wheel the first time they see someone making a pot on it, and I was one of those persons who got caught by it when I saw the potters at the school making their forms.”

WJ: “What were the facilities for the ceramics department like at the art school when you were a student?”

JTB: “The facilities then, compared to these days, were lacking so many things. The art school was young then, art was not as developed in Jamaica then. The persons who created the art school like Edna Manley, Cecil Baugh, Albert Hughie and the like were just people who got together because of their interest in art and in later years their efforts developed into different departments… but it was definitely not as fancy as it is now with all the digital equipment like kilns and slab rollers, everything was done manually we even had kick wheels. This brings me to the point that this scenario really exposed you fully to the intricacies of being a potter. These days you have ceramists who can’t throw a pot on the wheel because some people have different areas of interest in ceramics; they might say ‘oh it’s not important that I know how to do that.’ My view is that as a potter, or any other profession for that matter, you should be rounded, you might not decide to do throwing for the rest of career but you should know how to throw a pot, you should know how to do a bit of everything involved in ceramics.”

WJ: “You were, as far as I understand, the first of Cecil Baugh’s students to set up your own studio and pursue a career in ceramics. Is that true and how was that experience?”

JTB: “Yes, I was the first, the first student brave enough to set up my studio and pursue pottery as my full-time job; I don’t know if I can say it was very challenging then, to me it was very exciting. I was a different woman, the woman in pottery doing business and I was very much involved with the Small Business Association almost at its inception. It was the beginning of the Small Business Complex at Marcus Garvey Drive during Michael Manley’s tenure as Prime Minister of Jamaica. That complex was… really a complex because it had different sectors of manufacturing there; mostly for the garments market and I was the only person involved in pottery there. I must say though that I fit in well among them, though I was the only artist. What it did was allow me to gain a great deal of respect from the public as the only woman doing that kind of thing at that scale at that time; there were news paper articles and TV appearances. I cant say it was challenging because pharmacies were buying my pieces, gift shops were buying my pieces and people from all walks of life. People weren’t used to professional potters working like this so they were very excited about it. Doing fairs in the early years at Devon House, people were lining up trying to get their little piece of your work. All of this brought joy and happiness to me. Things have changed over the years but I still have confidence that I can stand with all the younger potters out there. As a matter of fact the younger potters have actually pushed me to be more creative; at first I was really into mugs and vases and the like but the younger potters showed me that I can be more expressive and artistic with the clay instead of sticking to functional pieces. I became closer to the clay and I got more confidence to get more expressive with it.”

WJ: “What was your first exhibition like?”

JTB: “It was good, the person who opened it for me was an artist; Lloyd Van-Peterson. You younger artists probably wouldn’t know him. He had a gallery on Half Way Tree Road. It was around 1970 or 1971 at the barn theater, Yvonne Jones and Trevor Rhone just set up the Barn Theater and they allotted a space there for pottery. Gene Pearson was the first to use it but he decided to discontinue business there and then I got involved with it, so I had my first show there. I will always cherish that moment.”