Meet Suritah – Teresa Wignall – CanvasRebel Magazine

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Sed ut perspiciatis unde.

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Suritah – Teresa Wignall. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Suritah – Teresa, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

My passion for being creative and loving art started at a very early age, I believe that I was 5 years old when I discovered that with crayons and paper, that I could create something magical. This passion carried through me up until now. I never really wanted to go the traditional route. I did get accepted into The Ontario College of Art and Design, but after the first year, I hated it, I was very unhappy and felt unfulfilled. So I did not return the following year. Since I was not getting accepted into galleries that often, a way for me to promote myself was through designing dressing rooms for singers/musicians who travelled to Toronto to perform. I designed dressing rooms for Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Femi Kuti, Alicia Keys, Floetry, Maxwell. I would decorate these artists’ rooms like they were in a live gallery and through this, I would sell my work or make connections.

After designing the dressing rooms, I knew that art would be my full time career. On my first trip to New York, I had spent the afternoon with one of my favourite African American Artists, Bryan Collier, I had admired his work snc I was 16, cutting his work out of magazines and writing him letters. Being in his studio was like a dream, all I kept thinking about was how he was able to do what he loved to do for a living. Designing dressing rooms like getting me a step closer to doing what I loved to do

But it took many trials and errors before getting to the place where I am now. I ve had solo and group shows in Canada and abroad. I have sold many paintings, received plenty of commissions, grants and awards. But it was through my failures and seeing the mistakes that I made over the many years that I wanted to try again. It was a constant back and forth but it was about a year and half ago where I made the concrete decision to pursue my passion wholeheartedly; to focus all my attention on my art, developing my skills, doing solid research and creating images that were from the heart and hoping that people would enjoy them in return. that I think people would enjoy. It is a constant learning curve and I’m here for all of it. I’m actually terrified and excited for this journey.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

So, as I mentioned in the first question, I have loved art since I was very young. My passion is painting, specifically oils and the use of collage. Sometimes, I would add fabric to my work, gold-leaf or prints. At the moment, I design greeting cards, prints and wrapping paper. My goal is to have a successful art and design company that provides all the above including stationary. I am also a writer, I have written many short stories. I have included my art with some of my short stories. The thing that I am most proud of, is how I have this hunger to continue learning, this hunger to want to be better for myself and for future customers. Just before the pandemic, I received a scholarship to study classical oil painting. That was a dream come true for me. I have always wanted to learn how the old master painted. so I have been currently training in an Atelier. I am always wanting to improve my skills in order to create more beautiful images and design more beautiful products.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

What drives me is the learning and the honoring of my ancestors and the learning of new techniques. The pandemic was a very difficult time for me emotionally and mentally, like for many of us who were on lock down. In Toronto, we were on lockdown for a bit longer, so the isolation took a toll on me. Having to now connect with the outside world through facetime and zoom, I had to find an alternative. I needed a soul connection. That’s when I began to learn about my Great Grandma. I have a photo of her that sits on my shrine and I began to wonder, what her life was like in the early 1900’s, Jamaica. I wondered if she was loved, if she had support, I wondered what her hopes and dreams were, what her thoughts were and how she dealt with struggle or hard times. My great grandmother was Syrian Jamaican. This was the start of my journey to want to learn more about my ancestry. Which has inspired my latest series entitled, Grandma. This has also inspired my love for researching tales in mythology- African, Indigenous and Norse for my writing and seeking out new design techniques. . It has Inspired me to want to learn more about great authors, poets, artists and writers from Syria and the African Diaspora. It has opened a part of me that has not been closed for so long. Ancestry, Identity, language are my new creative drive

I feel that this has motivated me to create in a whole new way, There is a depth, a deeper meaning as to why I do what I do. What I am meant to do. I hope to inspire people with this new work that is coming forth.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

There is no limit. Imagination is infinite, the sky is not the limit, the universe is and the universe is infinite. That is the most beautiful thing, there is always something to learn, something to discover. I’m in my 40’s and I feel more excited than ever. I love going to the art store, going to my studio to create. I love reading about new artists, challenging myself with new techniques. Connecting with other artists from around the world and formulating possible collaborations. We make the world more fun, artists make life more interesting, I strongly feel that art is a soft cushion to the difficult times we are living in. I have no idea what I would do without it. I often write at the end of my emails or posts, ” Art, my LOVE, my Life”, which it is. Art is my first love and it is my life. I am grateful everyday for having the ability to create

The most rewarding thing is, for example, the other day, someone posted on my FB page saying, ” Suritah, your art makes me smile, every single time”. I started crying, that statement made me so happy. That is the ultimate goal, I paint what I love for myself, but I always hope to make someone smile. I have always said that I want to be a part of the beauty of this world. In this chaos we are living in, I want to be a part of the beauty, to make more people smile. Thank you

Contact Info:

Website: https://suritahwignall.carbonmade.com/
Instagram: @faliansgrnddtr
Facebook: Suritah Wignall
Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SoyayyaSuritah?ref=search_shop_redirect

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Meet Suritah – Teresa Wignall