“ All my life as far back as I can remember I’ve been creative. From the age of two when I could barely hold a pencil, I was drawing. I used to fill many of my grandmother’s ledgers with endless drawings and fashionable stick people.”… Lee-Ann Haslam

Born at the end of the ’70s to celebrated British-Jamaican table tennis player Orville Haslam, OD and the extroverted entrepreneur CJ Haslam, Lee-Ann Haslam cites their influence, those of other family members and close friends, Jamaica’s lush landscape, the experiences in the land of her birth and the resilient, resourceful, charming and rebellious nature of its people as the foundation of her creative personality.

Indeed creativity has taken this artist, educator and lover of culture and travel on sojourns to New York, Florida and Mexico. She has lived between Japan and Jamaica for 16 years now.

“As a child, she says, “I remember growing up listening for hours captivated by the adults’ tales of their sojourns in other countries. Tales of sewing clothes for journeys and drinking unknown beverages called sangria and feeling its after-effects. So, maybe in part because of my memories of sangria, in 1998 when I got the chance to study art on an AFS exchange programme in Mexico I jumped at the chance. In Obregon, Sonora, I studied pastels, sculpture and Spanish. After which, I found myself at Florida International University (FIU), under the tutelage of Professor John Bailey, who taught me about an artist’s lineage and encouraged me to be confident as an artist and study more to develop my talent. To be honest, it took me years to acknowledge that I was an artist because I was instructed from I was a youngster that it is better to be a lawyer, doctor or some other ‘serious’ profession, and most definitely not a female artist or journalist because they don’t get married. Later I transferred to Fordham University, NY, as an art major under a two-year art scholarship. That is where, in my senior year, I fell in love with the dichotomy of glass as a medium for expression of colour, light and nature. When I moved back to Jamaica in 2003 I worked in glass with interior designer Marilyn Green, and became a self-taught glass painter producing artwork for companies, restaurants, bars, the diplomatic community, and other entities and individuals. I created various themed series of painted glassware, the most popular series called ‘Joy’ which is of dancers, musicians, sports, and other images that bring people joy.”

There was, however, a yearning to do more, to be more… “I wanted to fully comprehend glass, its chemistry and artform, she says. “In New York, during my undergraduate studies at Fordham University, I worked in a library and one day I took up a book about Japan. This, coupled with the gift of a Japanese summer kimono, and an ornate pair of chopsticks from family friend Sandra Lyn-Shue, when I was 16, planted the seed of interest that propelled me to decide to visit Japan and experience the culture for myself. When I was graduating, a friend told me about the JET programme. I applied, but was unsuccessful.

“I graduated with magna cum laude honours in the Arts, a double major in Studio Art and Art History with a minor in Arts Management, packed up my bags, and returned home.”

Back home she landed a job as the cultural coordinator and director’s assistant at the Centre for the Arts at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) with Pat Ramsay, who intended to train her to one day fill the position. I learnt a lot whilst working with the UTech family and formed strong bonds there. However, that was not to be my calling. One day I received a phone call from a former student needing a letter of recommendation for the JET programme. This prompted my own desire to apply for the programme. I had 11 days to apply; I did and this time I was accepted.

I moved to Japan in the summer of 2004 to a somewhat laid-back, friendly city by the name of Saga in Kyushu. Saga city is the capital of Saga Prefecture and it is located on the north-west part of Kyushu, which is the southernmost of the lower main islands of Japan. It is rural, and very far from the stereotypical hustle and bustle of Tokyo. Coastal fisheries still make up a large part of the economy of the area. In Saga I taught English for the Prefectural Board of Education and painted glassware for customers on request. During my four years there I visited as many places as I could and took in all I could see and learn. However, as Robert Frost stated, nothing gold can stay (meaning nothing, especially that which is perfect and beautiful, can last forever). Life is full of transitions.”

It certainly is! Not wishing to teach English her entire life, she refocused and in 2008, with encouragement from renowned metal artist Trevor Figueroa and the late visual artist Cecil Cooper and, despite the scientists, engineers and accountants present, interviewed for and was awarded the 2009 Monbukagakusho MEXT Japan Scholarship to study Imaginative Glass at Japan’s most prestigious art university, Tokyo University of The Arts.

Her first day in the “hot shop” (glassblowing studio) left an indelible impression. “I was overwhelmed by the intense heat of the furnace, the quick pace, the precise, decisive movements the artist needed to have, and the aromatic smell of burnt wood. I jumped at the crackle of the flames in the ‘glory hole’, or if a glass suddenly exploded. I could not blow any sort of proper bubble through the long blowpipe. I didn’t understand the rhythm of any of it,” she shares.

That week after repetitive practice with her classmate and friend Nanapon Haslam blew her first bubble in a glass ball. It’s a ball that she has kept to this day to remind her of where she started. Two years later, she completed her master’s degree, graduating at the top of her class as the only international student in the glass department.

Post-graduation, Haslam worked part-time in Japan as an artist and art educator as well as a lecturer at Meikai University in the Hospitality and Tourism Department and started her own company called LeeCreates (m.facebook.com/LeeCreatesPage/ or instagram ID: LeeCreates_).

Haslam says her artwork illustrates the fusion of Eastern and Western aesthetic beliefs. Historically, most Western art is based on strict ideas of symmetry, beauty, form, negative vs positive spatial balance, and complexity. Japanese art, in contrast, is founded on ideas of “wabi-sabi” (the perfection in imperfection), “yūgen” (profound grace and subtlety) and “iki” (refined style). “There is beauty in everything,” she opines. “And we are all beautiful exactly as we are, ‘cracks’ and all. In almost every museum I visit worldwide I find some cultural artistic inspiration. My mission is not to be confined by traditional precepts but to learn, be innovative in design, production and style while creating expressive imagery with glass.

“As a creator I chose to teach art to give back and encourage those who want to create. My private work representing Jamaica as an artist in Japan, through various exhibitions, has strengthened my ability to encourage my art students to push beyond their insecurities and delve into their own individual creative selves. Especially in Japan, students aren’t often encouraged to express their inner thoughts. As an educator who was also born in an environment that often downplayed the importance of art, I feel it is my role to combat this and help them be their best, with mutual respect and the assurance that mistakes are acceptable as long as they try. In parallel, I am exploring the psychological benefits of art in our environment, and the educational impact of art on the community. The incorporation of art educational programmes as a social solution to overcome and dispel stereotypes, its use in language acquisition and its use in bonding community and people.

Noblesse oblige remains uppermost for Haslam. In Jamaica, at the Centre for Arts she organised a summer art workshop for both inner-city and more privileged children, in which they could intermingle and create. “We did a huge painted window with a wonderful abstract design they created. In Kisoro, Uganda, at a prep school alongside Rainbow Charity, I taught art classes on collage and their environment. In Japan with the ZawadiKwa Charity, I’ve done live painting at their fund-raising events for a kids’ school library in Tanzania. In the Cayman Islands with the community centre I taught a painting workshop for the elderly, people aged 65-92, focusing on dexterity and confidence. In Kashiwa, a suburb of Tokyo, where I lived in Japan until very recently, I organised kid’s weekend community art classes. In Jamaica and especially in Japan I have done many art workshops for kids and adults, private and group settings. I try to do them at least once a month and use these efforts to bring more artistic interaction into communities around the world.” All pretty impressive. Incredibly, there’s still more! Whilst presently in Jamaica during the COVID-19 outbreak she has started teaching art classes for art lovers in need of spiritually uplifting engagements while confined to the house, using Zoom technology.

In early March Haslam left Japan for what should have been a short vacation then back to work, and the Olympics. With COVID-19, her plans were drastically altered. She’s still here! So what’s next?

“I’m not sure,” she shares as we conclude the interview. She does, however, have faith and looks forward to continued blessings which hopefully will benefit others, as well.

SIDE BAR!!!!

If you have a gift, talent or idea you want to share, go for it. How can anyone tell you that you can’t? Your original ideas may be changed or altered based on experience but keep flexible, keep growing, keep open and try to satisfy your thirst. What you have may benefit and inspire others for the better so why not share who you are and make this world a better place? So, amidst this COVID-19 pandemic I will be doing my best to have the courage to change the things I can, breathe and accept the things I cannot and have the wisdom to know the difference. I choose to be smart and instead of acting out of fear or panic, have compassion and respect for others. We all should do the best we can in a very unique situation.

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