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Portrait artist and former Caribbean business executive, Joya Cousin stands next to an incomplete portrait of local saxophonist Arturo Tappin.

The woman behind the canvas

Some people have amazing natural talent and Joya Cousin is one of them. At age 46, she is building her brand as a portrait artist while living a quiet life in Brittany, France.

 

But her journey to the art world is not a conventional one. A few years ago, this Caribbean woman was living a comfortable life as a successful senior business executive. But as she revealed to The Barbados Advocate, her life changed when she was shot with Cupid's arrow.  She fell in love with the man of her dreams, and despite the language barrier, she made a decision that will affect her future career and her lifestyle.

 

Living the life of a top executive

Born in Antigua, Joya completed her Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Accounting at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill in 1998. She revealed that she worked for top corporate companies in several territories including Barbados, Antigua, Grenadines, St.Lucia and St.Kitts and Nevis. She made special mention of Ernst and Young, which she described as a wonderful firm that engrained a specific work ethic in her. In her early years, she continued to climb the corporate ladder, eventually entering the telecommunications sector.

 

Finding love

In 2015, Joya was a powerful business leader, but fate had other plans for her. Through a friend, she found herself on a blind date. At this moment, she had just assumed the role of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Digicel. This meeting with her future partner went well and her whirlwind romance with French man Laurent Cousin led to a marriage proposal in St.Kitts and Nevis. She accepted his proposal and left her job after eight months in the role.

 

In 2016, Joya moved to France and she and her partner eloped. She obtained her long-stay visa, started to learn French and settled down to start her new exciting life.

 

From 100 day art challenge to drastic career change

The casual observer who has seen Joya's work may assume that she has been painting for a while or a few years at least, but Joya revealed that she has only been painting professionally i.e.doing commissioned work for the past two years. Her interest in art came with no formality. She explained she tried new sports and hobbies like playing the guitar and golf. Yet, she found herself unable to enjoy these activities.

 

Joya told The Barbados Advocate she came across the 100 day art project online and started to use basic colour pens and watercolour paints. The former business executive eventually graduated to drawing people and something changed within her.

 

"I did my first sort of sketch of a person, of a face and it moved something in me in a way that had never happened before," said Joya.

 

In her next attempt, she used paint and this opened a new world for her. Joya quit the challenge and decided to teach herself to paint portraits. She explained that a spark had formed within her to learn, but the choice to switch career paths was challenging for the painter.

 

"Coming from a (business) background, I was tied to a sort of corporate expectation, salary expectation and lifestyle expectation. It was really a journey for me to decide whether or not I could live this path as an artist. It can be quite a lonely path," said Joya.

 

But at age 42, she picked up her brush and became an artist and made a decision to pursue the field professionally two years ago.

 

Walking her own path

Although Joya has been living in France for a few years as an artist, she disclosed that she is not a part of the vibrant art scene. She explained that she has not joined any network for several reasons, but the main one is creative differences. In general, she noted that there are not a lot of professional portrait artists around and attempts to connect to them have been futile. However, she has noted portrait artist, Jonathan Guy-Gladding, who is based in St.Lucia, as a contact.

 

As a new, unknown artist, Joya focused on promoting her brand online, connecting on LinkedIn, attracting clients virtually and through word-of-mouth. Joya has created a name for herself with 34 000 followers on Facebook, over 7 000 followers on Instagram and a healthy audience on LinkedIn. She has completed art pieces for people all over the world, but indicated only recently she started to attract French clients.

 

In her art studio, there are many portraits of business leaders, celebrities, authors, musicians and ordinary people. Joya said she has a strong connection with each portrait and with every stroke of her brush, her work becomes more intimate and special. She has done several Caribbean portraits including Barbadian megastar Rihanna, local saxophonist Arturo Tappin and Saint Lucian poet Derek Walcott.

In total, she painted about 169 portraits with 55 of these done between 2020 and 2021. She has a different business strategy from most artists due to her experience. Joya indicated that in 2019, she hosted an art exhibition which was well received. But she confessed that she did not sell any of her work. The emerging painter decided to focused on commissioned work as a portrait artist. Joya also commits to producing her work over a few months while her counterparts may take up to a year or more.

 

As of 2021, Joya has recorded 4 000 hours of painting with acrylics and practicing her art form. She indicated that she has a goal of reaching 10 000 hours. The former business executive and owner of Joya Cousin Fine Art said at that milestone she would have felt that she had earned her freedom to express herself.

"I spent most of my life as an accountant colouring within the lines and not as experimental as I would like to be…(but) as I get older and more confident in my ability as an artist, I see myself learning (more)," said Joya.

 

This phenomenal artist is on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn as Joya Cousin

and her work can be viewed on her website, www.joyacousin.com.

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