Denise Reid, Gleaner Writer

An orchid pressed and mounted by Dax Pessoa in earlier days.- Photos by Denise Reid

Pessoa

WESTERN BUREAU:

IT WAS his mother's love of flowers which prompted 11-year-old Dax Pessoa to press flower blooms and mount them.

Thirteen years later, that art form has evolved and he now uses dried flowers to produce beautiful mixed media images.

"My mother always had a liking for pretty unconventional things, so it forced me to have an unconventional eye," he says.

Pessoa uses wood, wax and paint to give new life to dried flowers. From a family that embraces art, he says he has always held a keen interest in various artforms, entering many competitions.

But his real motivation came from an artist, Michael Robinson.

"I used to know a guy named Michael Robinson and I used to see him do work out of metal and wire. He would do all sorts of things using wire, metal, paint and sculpting and I used to be around him a bit," says Pessoa.

'Free-flowing mind'

Robinson became his mentor and encouraged him in 1996 to broaden his scope and start incorporating wax when constructing the pieces.

It was Robinson who also inspired Pessoa to make his first piece of work out of wire.

An eclectic, eccentric individual, Pessoa tells The Sunday Gleaner: "My mind is not really static."

He has dabbled in painting, but it is his 'free-flowing' mind, he says, that enables him to take on new things, such as the painting of murals and mosaics.

He recently teamed up with painter, Cathy Maddan, to do a mural at the Sir John Golding Rehabilitation Centre in St Andrew.

The budding artist also has an interest in photography and is a member of the University of the West Indies Camera Club.

Pessoa says he has received favourable responses about his work, which is especially admired by ladies.

Rose painted in gold with accents of black.

RIGHT: Dried flowers mounted on a wooden background.