I am often asked what prompted my desire to be an artist. On reflection I would say Art called me to its embrace. I was born and bred in Trinidad & Tobago of Afro/Caribbean heritage, I did not have need for any formal training to be an artist, the inclination was bred into my being. I believe that the desire to fashion a thing of beauty comes through a calling from the soul. The patience and dedication to the manifestation of a dream, a concept of the imagination can only come from an immaculate conception.

My hands have always been the tools I use to mold and shape the visions in my mind. As a kid I repaired my broken toys, and as I grew older I found my love for drawing still objects and portraits of my friends. I recall on one occasion being inspired by a Black awareness campaign to do a charcoal drawing of a Black Christ. That got the attention of my friends so much so that I was offered money by one of its admirers. I took him up on his offer.

As an adult I eventually migrated to the United States with my family and pursuing my place in this new environment was not without trial and error. One day I looked at a club chair in my home that was falling apart and I thought if I could dismantle it to find out how it was put together I am sure that I would be able to reupholster it. And so I did. I furthered my expertise by taking a correspondence course from the Furniture Stylists Guild, and summer classes on Interior Decorative Architectural structuring at Brooklyn College, NY. Thereafter upholstery became the source of livelihood for my family.

Brooklyn New York was the first launch of my business venture, I opened an Interior Decor Shop, “Interiors by Winston” catering to the trade, selling my services to the Interior Design establishment where the clientele were such as the Met, Whitney Art museum and Trump Towers. I worked in concert with decorators and architects on upholstery projects of which Wall Upholstery was a major part.

I relocated to Orlando Florida in the mid 90s and continued my occupation by establishing an Interior Design Service Company, “Winvet Inc.” servicing Rhodes Furniture, Jennifer Convertibles, American Signature and contractual services to Disney.

My introduction into sculpture was in relationship to my having to restore and refinish the show wood on furniture I reupholstered particularly the older antique pieces where the craftmanship was of a period in time when wood carving on furniture show wood was unique and exquisite. My enthusiasm for wood working took an additional boost on my revisits to Trinidad & Tobago and to Jamaica, South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana where I was awed by the street artists carving abilities, the transformation of a block of wood into a thing of beauty sparked my curiosity to delve deeper into this artistic adventure.

Sculpture came naturally to me, it seems as though it was the road I had to follow. Now after the ebb and flow of time I have arrived at this place where my accomplishments remain wanting to be shared.

I invite you to my artistic world: BUBUMANART