I ssue 1

Skateijah

Featuring - Ijah gallary - Alex BoonJoel Lijertwood - Manifesto

Photoa is a photo journal for the Trinidad skateboarding community, an extension of the Ijah vibration. Coming from a conscious place of love and unity, a goal

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....................... Ijah gallary

....................... Alex Boon

................ Joel Lijertwood

....................Richard Solis

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P H O T O A

About Featu r ing

of ours is to unite artists, mu-sicians and skaters under one roof. Through this medium we hope to provide a scope of the skate scene and the iration that surround us every day.

Skateijah

Ijah is the premiere movement for skateboarding in Trinidad & Tobago, working along side to build a vibrant and creative community. The vision behind Ijah, is to create a respectable platform with which to present the talents of Trinbagonians.

G a l l e r yTo celebrate the first issue of Photoa we decided to give you a glimpse into the past and present of skateboarding in Trinidad.

Some of these pictures go back as early as the skatepark in MovieTowne, a home away from home where the lime was always good. Moving up a few years brings us to sessions at Jean’s, and even some prize shots of the elusive half pipe. Finally culminat-ing towards present day sessions at the Warehouse and Mark’s ramp.

From here on out it’s only forward movement for the Ijah family as we build the love doing what we do best, with a little help from our friends.

Alonso, hailing from Spain, has brought a calm and collected style to Trinidad with a good spirit

Jeremy, not much to say other than hes a real bredrin and alot of fun to watch attack a stair set

These fellas have been there since the beginning, we owe everything to them

Trinidad & Tobago

How old are you, and how long have you been painting?

I’m 28 and I’ve been painting for about 15 years.

You have quite an origi-nal style. Did this de-velop over time?

My style developed over time. I’ve never felt like realism was for me. To me it doesn’t make sense to paint exactly what’s there.

Take us through your creative process, what inspires you?

I paint mostly on hard-board, I cut it to suit, prime it and then it’s laid on the ground. From there paint is applied

direclty onto the board and all mixing is done as is necessary on the board itself. It’s a pretty simple process, I dont spend a substantial amount of time on prep work, I like to dive straight in. I have no idea where the urge to paint comes from but it comes in waves.

How do you name your pieces? With names like ‘Bonfire Reunion,’ is there any meaning behind this?

Most of my paintings are named when they’re done because most are not planned. Whatever I see in it when it’s done is what it’s called.

Do you think local art-ists have a duty to act

as social commentators, to expand the average persons views on their surroundings?

I think painters should just paint and stop wor-rying about point of views and such. The only duty a painter should have is to be hon-est with themselves and paint from the heart first and head second.

Where do you see your art taking you in the future?

I just hope to have alot more paintings done, framed and hanging on the walls in the houses of people who appreciate them.