visit_with_alton

July 1999 Table of Contents

A VISIT WITH ALTON LOWE

Can you imagine a more civilised way to spend a Sunday midday than in the company of Alton Lowe at his Black Sound, Green Turtle Cay, three-gabled residence, viewing his paintings and chatting about this and that wherever the conversational eddies take one? It was an experience that was hard to beat.

My wife, Valerie, and I had Alton all to ourselves on the last Sunday of May. We were greeted graciously and conducted around the exhibition of Alton's paintings that were on display for the month of May, following his exhibition in Nassau.

There were no surprises, for Alton's works have been known to us for years. His forte is to present The Bahamas - in particular, Abaco and Green Turtle Cay - in a way that allows the observer to become an intimate part of the depicted scene. The painting of youngsters dabbing with a bully net for lobsters from an Abaco dinghy seems mundane until you follow the lines of their interaction, then consider that what you are seeing is already a lost skill.

From too far a distance, Alton Lowe's paintings may seem almost photographic in their precision. As one is able to investigate the brushwork and detail, the coloration that only an artist sees, it is clear that the crystalline clarity of a moment in time has been captured in a way that no photograph could duplicate.

There are beachscapes and views of Alton's beloved New Plymouth, but it is people Alton seems to bring to life. A silver-haired black Nassau lady performing the simple task of pumping water becomes transmogrified. "Water is life," the lady seems to be saying. The wisdom of the silver hairs and the considered activity of pumping water bring together essentials of human experience.

"One noted writer called me a Conchy Joe who painted mostly white people," Alton told us. "He also said I was untrained as a painter." Well, wrong on every count. Alton studied under Frank Reilly, one of the most demanding and successful of instructors for many years, and my own favourite paintings by Alton have been of black Bahamians, some of whom have been my students at school. "When I read that, I went back through my catalogue of paintings and, as a rough calculation, two-thirds of my subjects were black. As for being a Conchy Joe, I plead guilty - depending on your definition!"

Alton has often been asked about how got into painting. "I look upon Colyn Rees, who encouraged me when I was young, as being my mentor. I received early instruction from Olga and John Baker Smith who had a gallery in Miami Beach and another summer gallery in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains."

One painting obviously done with an abundance of affection was, Alton confessed, of Madlena: "She was always with me as I grew up. I would rather forget a card on my parents' birthday than forget hers!" Madlena was a black lady who had been a great influence on Alton's growing years in a settlement that was almost equally divided into black and white. Her mother, Dana, was New Plymouth's midwife. "You will find her life story in the Albert Lowe Museum," Alton added, " written by Iris Lowe, the daughter of Harold Lowe, who was the town's historian."

You get to Alton's house through a fairyland of a garden path that was festooned with blooming orchids on host trees when Valerie and I visited. Many of Alton's paintings were of orchids captured at their peak of perfection. Yes, they looked too good to be real. But when you see the orchids in natural life, they also look too good to be real.

As we admired the paintings, Alton kept directing us to sculptures by his good friend, James Mastin, which were also on display. Both Alton and James Mastin have a fascination with the Lucayan Arawak heritage of the islands and both have depicted them with considerable symbolism in their respective artistic areas. Alton said there may a musical in the works with songs provided by Mel Arnold . The dramatic and musical presentations which have been put on in the open air theatre on the grounds of Alton's home have brought people to Green Turtle Cay from thousands of miles away.

One of Alton's paintings featured a conch shell, seagull, candlesticks and a double-spouted vessel. "The vessel was used at Arawak weddings," Alton told us. "Both husband and wife drank from the respective necks and then it was dashed on the ground. The number of shards that resulted was supposed to indicate the number of children the couple would produce. The presence of the conch, of course, speaks for itself."

Alton Lowe may not be known by everyone in The Bahamas if you just say his name, but when you tell people they have licked the backsides of his works they take interest. That's because Alton has produced the paintings for several commemorative and definitive issues of stamps by the Bahamas Post Office. I remember well his renditions of the Loyalists and Lucayan Arawaks as well as his present Bahamian shells definitives. "What's next?" I asked him.

"It's in the works, but I can't tell you. There's a degree of secrecy attached to these things."

Many Bahamian artists turn to Junkanoo as the epitome of island cultural experience. Alton Lowe is no exception, but he seems to have taken a completely different angle from the usual crowded and spangled extravagances. His Junkanoo presentation shows a child dressed up for the show - apprehensive, uncertain - just as if it were a snapshot taken by a proud father before the performance. Except cameras, even Nikons, aren't that good.

"I hope that one day, Green Turtle Cay will be looked upon as the cultural centre of Abaco," Alton said as we moved between displays.

"Hey!" I had to interject. "That dream has already been fulfilled." Earlier this year Patrick Bethel had given a speech in New Plymouth in which he noted Green Turtle Cay's awareness of its heritage and its attempts to preserve that heritage. The permanent theatre and its many annual presentations, the Albert Lowe Museum, the Memorial Sculpture Garden: all these place Green Turtle Cay apart as the historical home of all of Abaco.

"President Nixon visited and admired my works," Alton told us. "He said he wanted me to do a new Congressional painting for him as he thought the one that was hanging made him look too sallow. I agreed, but later found out that I would have to become a US citizen to have my painting accepted. I, of course, demurred."

I already knew that a painting of Alton's hung in Windsor Castle, one of the residences of the Queen of England. "That painting wasn't harmed in the fire a couple of years ago?" I asked.

"Oh, no. It was in another wing." I wanted to ask whether the Queen or her government had paid market price but there is only one time when you ask an artist about price: when you take your cheque book out.

Speaking of England, one would think oneself in a quintessentially English Edwardian country home at Alton's until you peered outside the window at the tropical exuberance of his garden. The settees with overstuffed cushions, and ornamental tables with vases that set off the hung paintings, were redolent of a more gracious era. We had to admire the intricities of an easel that held a gilt-framed Lowe orchid painting and was obviously oriental. "Sir Etienne Dupuch gave that to me," Alton told us. "It's from the Philippines."

The balcony that embraces the rear and sides of the first storey allows an aerial view over Alton Lowe's garden where he nurtures native rose bushes as well as exotic plant gifts from his many friends and admirers. The balcony (which Alton modestly called his porch) curves round the side of the house giving a clear view of Black Sound.

An even clearer view of Black Sound is seen from Alton Lowe's second storey studio, which also looks onto the ocean and Pelican Cay to the east. You can see as far as Guana Cay to the south, if you lean forward a little.

The wood house needs no air conditioning for it is built with an airy spaciousness - big windows, large rooms and very high ceilings - that allows every zephyr to be appreciated. Add that is set on a hill beside the water and is surrounded by a garden big enough to include an open air theatre and you will get some idea of the ambience that allows Alton Lowe to leisurely produce some of the best-known works in the annals of Bahamian art.

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