A breath-taking experience

By NORMAN ROLLE

Weekender Editor

For close to four decades Eddie Minnis has been a presence on the Bahamian social scene through music and satirical cartoon – Pot Luck - that was a popular weekly feature in the Guardian for a number of years, and through paintings.

He recently released his third album on cd entitled, "We Got The Sun An' More" and tomorrow he opens a Minnis Family Art Exhibition at the Central Bank of The Bahamas.

The exhibition features 40-50 original pieces by Eddie, his two daughters Nicole and Roshanne and his son-in-law Ritchie Eyma.

Minnis' son, currently at York University in Canada, is pursuing a degree in literature, with art as a minor.

Multitalented Minnis has a degree in architecture from McGill University, but really never entered the profession. Instead, he has utilised his talents in music and paintings.

Fifteen years ago, he relocated to North Eleuthera, which according to him is endless in painting subject matters. In Eleuthera, he is also an active Jehovah witness.

On the eve of his Central Bank exhibition, Lifestyles caught up with him for a chat about his music, paintings and his mission in Eleuthera.

Rolle: Tell us about the exhibition.

Minnis: Well ever since my kids were young I noticed that artistic ability particularly when they became teenagers, preparing for GCE. Nicole got into painting at age 16 and Roshanne from 13 showed a lot of interest in painting. I encouraged them to pursue art as a career, which is in fact what they have done.

They've made great progress and we're able to have family exhibitions. The exhibition that we are having at the Central Bank is actually the third we've had as a family. My second daughter's husband is also an artist, so you have four different styles of work, but the key ingredient is that we always try to put our best.

Rolle: How big is the exhibition, how many pieces we can expect?

Minnis: We should have out 40-50 original pieces. And what makes this one different is that we have gotten into canvas reproductions of our work. A lot of people cannot afford the original but the canvas reproduction is a quality product.

You have to look close to see the difference and there is a great difference in the price. So there is something for everyone.

Rolle: What would the prices be like?

Minnis: Well, it depends on the sizes but it can run from $1000-$20,000. It depends on the subject matter, size and the work.

Rolle: You have a lot of subject matter in Eleuthera.

Minnis: Yes. There was a time when I thought that I should move to Exuma because every summer for about 10 years the family vacationed in Exuma and we loved it.

But Eleuthera more than any other islands that I've been to has that variety in beauty. There are cliffs and sand and it has the second highest hill and it has more hills than Cat Island.

Rolle: I can see from your excitement about the exhibition that art lovers are in for some real breathtaking pieces.

Minnis: Well, when it comes to the water I use to think that Eleauthera's water was better than Exuma's, but when it comes to the beaches and the color of the water, Exuma is in a class by itself. But Eleuthera is close. I never ran out and I have been here for 15 years. To respond to you directly, there are some spectacular art pieces.

Rolle: Do you have roots in Eleuthera?

Minnis: I did not find out until I moved there that my grandmother was from Bluff. And my wife's father is from Savannah Sound. Back in 1974, I wrote a song about Eleuthera going back to the island aboard the mail and it talks about my grandmother and I was talking about Eleuthera and then in 1999 my family and I to Eleuthera on the mail boat.

Rolle: So you take care of the missionary work in North Eleuthera?

Minnis: Yes, all of the work is voluntary we don't have any paid ministers. And so each witness supports himself and his family by what he does. And so painting is what has always been my mainline and music has always been a hobby.

I don't perform, so I don't have that audience every night.

Music has always been a labour of love. But the painting has always been my main line. But in between everything else I fit in the painting.

Rolle: What's in the future?

Minnis: More painting and more of the ministry. The creative part is interesting you can float around and say that it is for the music, but now there is something that happens you get the inspiration you get a song and a song on the paper is not good enough and you find yourself in the studio.

So whatever Jehovah allows I plan to just follow it but for the most part it would be more painting.