Art inspired by Tobago life

Neville Phillips prayed "for a talent to give me something good to do with my hands." The answer to his prayers is revealed through his wooden sculptures, inspired by the sights of everyday life, visions and whatever comes to mind.

Now a retiree, Phillip’s gift is a hobby now, nowhere close to helping him earn an income yet. He yearns, too, for his work to be appreciated and valued by the public.

A self-taught sculptor, he left school in Standard Five, and moved to Trinidad where he did trained with T&TEC and became a linesman with the public utility company. It was while working in Trinidad he did his first carving, over 40 years ago. He happened upon a piece of guava wood which he chiselled into a rattle snake. It is a piece he had held on to this day.

"I didn't go anywhere to learn this talent. I don't want to throw it away or foul it up," Phillips said in an interview. With a piece taking him from anywhere from a week to a month to complete, he says his sculptures are like putting out pieces of his "inner self" on display.

"I like carving, it puts me in a nice soothing mood, it's like listening to music,” he added.

His uses Cedar, Teak, Mahogany, Sapodilla and Greenheart woods, that are generally discarded, and which he takes and turns into works of art. He displayed a range of sculptures on July 20 at the 2018 Tobago Heritage Festival’s Art & Craft Exhibition and Food Fair at the Scarborough Esplanade.