When the River Meets the Ocean
By LVTY ART
Yemaya Assessu,
Assessu yemaya,
Yemaya olodo,
Olodo yemaya
A celebration of the moment when the river meets the ocean.
Jillian McIntyre depicts this ocean goddess’ home with bright blues and the calm froth of the ocean waves. As the river gives way into the vast and lonely expanse of the ocean, explore the mysterious underwater world. You may encounter Yemaya — fierce yet gentle energy. As the “Mother of All,” she is a symbol of endless compassion and creativity. Her spirit is that which imbues the resilience of an artist. No matter how they may be forced to suppress their God-given urge to create, they somehow find a way. It’s a story especially true for this artist.
After years spent repressing her calling, Jill is bursting at the staves with creativity. Talent and creative energy manifest through acrylic paint on canvas. Each blank canvas represents a chance to fill space with a striking medley of color. It’s an exciting opportunity to learn something new and rediscover the art she feels compelled to bring to life, just as Yemaya gives life to all things.
What I am doing (with my art) sometimes surprises me. It’s like my art exists outside of me. My paintings use me to come to life.
As a proud Bajan town gyal’ she can sometimes be found on the western side of the island, at one of her favorite locations to paint, Battsrock Beach.
“A guy does stacked stone statues there about 6 feet tall, and I like to paint it. I also feel close to God there,” she explained. The scenic shoreline likely makes for excellent inspiration for her stunning ocean and marine-life-inspired artwork.
The beloved African deity Yemaya is the main subject in yet another ocean-inspired piece Jill has been working on for the past three years. The mermaid goddess is widely documented and worshipped throughout Africa and in many countries in the Western world. Fiercely protective, Yemaya is said to have followed her African children to the Americas after they were taken as slaves. This trait is one McIntyre mirrors herself, as she expressed her ‘impossible’ love for her own real-life children. These traits, paired with their shared connection to the sea, are likely what drew the artist to use the ethereal sea goddess as the main character in her personal piece.
Jill is far from a one-dimensional artist, though. Paintings like “Determined” and “Teeko” on her Instagram page showcase her diverse artistic interpretations of non-aquatic life and humans. One of her earliest memories of drawing human figures was during a secondary school art class.
“We had to pair into two’s and paint each other. My art teacher (she wasn’t a very good one) tapped me on my head and said, ‘there’s a skeleton under there.’” she recalled, “I didn’t like it, but it made me understand there is a bony structure under the skin, and you have to remember that when you are painting and drawing people.”
Those classes would be the extent of formal art education for McIntyre, who revealed that her parents discouraged her from pursuing the creative outlet as a child. It would be years before she began taking her art seriously again, though her incredibly detailed, eye-catching pieces may suggest otherwise. She attributes this to her innate eye for color — something she frequently receives compliments on. Over the years, she has received several Barbados NIFCA (National Independence Festival of Creative Arts) Visual Arts awards for her work.
Yemaya is the goddess of the ocean and the mother of all goddesses.
Jill’s love and faith in God expand as far as the oceans that inspire much of her work today. It’s a conviction some may say is one only those who have braved the stormiest waters of life can know. Though she has faced rejection and other hardships along the way, Jill always comes back stronger and further grounded in her faith.
I have a lot of bounce back in me. I might cry a little but I will get back up.
A connection to the full moon is another parallel that can be drawn between this creator and her oceanic muse Yemaya, who is often associated with the glowing, ethereal planet. Jill regards the lunar eclipse (blocking out of the old moon) as a sign of renewal. It serves as an apt reminder for her that with every ending comes a new beginning.
New beginnings may be just beyond the horizon for Jill. She has recently been toying with the idea of creating pieces that are both beautiful and functional by learning to produce her own ceramic art. As a lover of traveling, she hopes to be able to continue to see and experience new lands freely and safely. Until then, she continues to use her imagination to conceptualize, build and explore worlds on land and under the sea through her art.
