Rachael returns with watercolours

Not a full meal, it’s more like a series of tasty appetizers… But the ten watercolour paintings on display at the Belize City House of Culture are sure to tickle your palette. News Five spoke with Rachael Heusner-Superville today about the exhibition, entitled simply “Ten Paintings.”

Rachael Heusner Superville, Artist
“All my paintings are real people. I am always walking around with my camera looking for interesting things to do. And actually one was just a girl I got by the side, but the other one had modelled for me.”

“I have in the show a piece that is called “We Mi Sista” and it’s a little boy, he looks like he is trying to rope a rooster and the reason I like it is because I like my pieces to tell stories about the Caribbean. Kids are always doing really stupid stuff, so I like that because, you know, it’s just funny.”

Karla Heusner, Reporting
Rachael Heusner Superville is a Belizean, but she has made the island of Tobago her home. Both places continue to influence her work, both in terms of content and intensity.

Rachael Heusner Superville
“I think the Caribbean is about colour and about sunshine, you know, minus all the hurricane and rain. But it’s always very bright. When you look outside on nice sunny day, there is all this light and colour that’s hitting you. And I strive to get a nice high contrast within the paintings, and even right now they are being shown kinda low lit, yet the paintings are still kicking out and they are still bright in themselves.”

What advice would she give aspiring artists in Belize?

Rachael Heusner Superville
“Learn to draw really, really well; that’s important. A lot of people like to get into the field and they feel that you know, I like to paint, but I don’t like to draw, but drawings are your basis for your painting and understanding colour comes next. It’s not just throwing colours together and so it?s a good combination of both. And once your work is good, it will sell itself. You don’t have to work really hard and say “Oh, I can’t sell anything,” it’s going to sell itself, if it’s good.”

Karla Heusner reporting for News Five.

If you would like to see Rachael Heusner-Superville’s work up close, or purchase one, you’ll have to hurry, as the show only runs until next Wednesday. She returns to Tobago, her gallery, and her husband Martin on Thursday.