The village of Lopinot is well known for its rich history, picturesque sights and serene remoteness – the perfect environment for artist and sport enthusiast Mikaela Jodhan to work her creative magic.
The 24-year-old said while the instability of the wifi service in the village may not suit the average young person, it has actually worked in her favour, allowing her the time to develop a talent she discovered when she was five, and monetise her brand, MikaelaJ Art. The hobby was transformed into a full-time business in 2020 after Jodhan was laid off from her job at a company that made sporting uniforms.
“Lopinot is a really nice place to live although the cell phone reception is crappy and wifi access is horrible. It’s always so quiet and peaceful. I would sit by my table and draw all day, sometimes for eight to ten hours. I still don’t have wifi at home,” because different service providers somehow cannot get a steady signal to her home, which is located a little distance from the road and opposite the Lopinot recreational facility.
“They keep saying the house is too far from the road.”
[caption id="attachment_908784" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Mikaela Jodhan says she can draw for eight to ten hours at her home in Lopinot. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale[/caption]
And although this makes it difficult for her to manage the social media pages she has created to promote her artwork, Jodhan said she makes do with wifi from her aunt who lives nearby.
Jodhan has very little formal training in art and told WMN when she started drawing she did just black and white pieces. Two years ago she started experimenting with coloured pencils and decided to stick with it.
“It took me a long time to call myself an artist. I did basic art at El Dorado East Secondary, but the work I do is mainly from watching YouTube videos and getting information from other websites.”
Jodhan said after secondary school she was offered a partial scholarship to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Atlanta, Georgia but couldn’t afford to pay the difference not covered by the scholarship.
Instead, she enrolled in the University of Trinidad and Tobago and will graduate in November with a degree in education.
[caption id="attachment_908779" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Mikaela Jodhan with two portraits at the Lopinot Historial Complex. - Photo by Ayanna Kinsale[/caption]
“Because of my general love for sports, I decided to pursue this degree to learn about many different types of sports and so I can become a physical education teacher.” But, she said, SCAD is not completely off the table. “I still want to go to SCAD someday.”
Jodhan does mainly portraits, but she said she also experiments with small landscape pieces, anime and even animal drawings. Her focus is mainly realism, but she said she is also inspired by fantasy and surrealism.
“It’s just a matter of finding the time to try it.”
Using Prismacolor and Faber-Castell colour pencils, she is able to draw faces on paper.
“The wax-based finish of Prism
