I told you in my previous newsletter, inside every Bajan* hides a craftsman. Whether to supplement income, offset the cost of living or make up for limited supply on the island, many Barbadians have revealed themselves to be painters, metalworkers, artists and gardeners, often quite successfully.
Case in point, Russell Manning, who was a divemaster with a local dive shop until Covid struck. Could his mother ever have imagined that her wish for a large pot to plant a tree would inspire her son to make a brilliant career change during this downtime? In fact, that’s exactly how this young man's first piece — using an old rum barrel bought just before commercial activity ground to a halt — came to be.
Encouraged by his success, Russell turned to making small items of furniture: side tables, shelves, mirrors, etc. Gradually, he remembered the technical courses he had taken at school -woodwork, drawing, welding, strength of materials, etc-. He then moved on to building furniture requiring him to calculate dimensions for models his father had seen on decor websites.
While he removed the slats from the rum barrels, then sawed, welded and screwed them together using ingenious calculations and models, his mother sanded, painted and polished. Tables, chairs and wine racks magically appeared, and were posted on his Instagram account, Barreldecorbarbados.
With Covid over, Russell, delighted by his achievements, did not return to watersports, expanding his furniture range instead. Then one day, a commission arrived that was as unexpected as it was fantastic: outfit the Mount Gay rum tasting room in Barbados’ most famous tourist attraction, Harrison Cave. One success leads to another… the Hilton Hotel then entrusted him with the design of its new rum bar. Go check it out: it's hard to believe that this young craftsman created the whole thing using only rum barrels, with no help from anyone other than his mother... Bravo!
*Bajan (pr. bay-djun): noun or adjective, derived from “Barbadian
Author : Jihane Sfeir
English Translation by Joy Lewis (https://www.aaatranslationservicesbb.com/en/