All Aboard for.....Art!!: PortlandArt Gallery

The Port Antonio line was among the more pleasant rides in the now long-defunct Jamaica Rail system (historically a pioneer in the Western world). It culminated in the former banana port after steaming through some spectacular and lush scenery to be found anywhere, certain inspiration for artists of all stripes.

Now, in the former railway station just outside the town square, an enterprising group is "expressing" the beauty of the parish and their own thoughts in a form at once more stationary and yet capable of travelling far and wide.

Artist Hopeton Cargill, the spokesman/convenor for the Portland Art Gallery collective says the group consists of a diversity of artists with more joining over time. The work reflects the general spirit of the still largely rural parish  - farm  and country scenes and looks at the ways that folks have traditionally entertained themselves, as the pics her show

Artist Hopeton Cargill outside the Portland Gallery

but even if bucolic pasture scenes or young boys diving off a pier are not your thing, the Gallery welcomes a wide range of styles and themes.

There is even a bit of semi-abstract fantasy, incorporating nature, as represented in the piece below.

Now established in their "station" the artists' group is forging ahead to make itself and its handiwork known to the wider public.