In the Sunshine - Eddie Minnis

[Guest Kurt]

What I have learned in my creative career is that you must believe in yourself and be willing to follow your dreams. When I was young, people told me that you could not make a living as an artist in the Bahamas and that you had to be a trained singer with a beautiful voice to be a successful performer.

However, I saw the incredible beauty of the Bahama Islands and our rich architectural heritage. I wanted to follow a career that I could enjoy always and I was convinced that if I worked hard I could make a living as an artist.

I saw the value of editorial cartoons when I was studying architecture in Canada and I willingly offered my first cartoons to a newspaper even though the financial rewards were initially very small.

When I first started writing songs about daily life in the Bahamas I had great difficulty convincing professional musicians to perform them. Somebody said to me, “Hey, you don’t have to be Johnny Mathis to sing calypso!” That emboldened me to try to sing the songs myself.

Today there is much more appreciation for art in the Bahamas, and I am one of many Bahamians who make a living from their art. I have an archive of more than 3,000 cartoons that were published in “The Guardian” and “The Tribune” during my ten-year career as a cartoonist. Most of my C.D.s have been well received by Bahamians and visitors alike over the past three decades.

I also have the immense joy of being able to encourage other young artists. One of my proudest accomplishments is the “FinCo Art Workshop” that I helped to establish in Nassau through the Finance Corporation of the Bahamas. This annual workshop has exposed hundreds of young persons to the joys of artistic expression and also turned out a stream of professional artists.

All of this I owe to my relationship with my God Jehovah. My art attempts to capture the beauty of his creation, and my music and cartoons incorporate the lessons for life that He reveals in His word the Bible.

I thank Jehovah always for the creative gifts He has given me and the opportunity I have to share them with so many people from all walks of life. Source