THE first public acknowledgement of his talent probably came in primary school, where, like his siblings, he did astoundingly well in art. Then came much prompting from his teacher, Ms Chung, at St Mary’s College, prodding that made him take enough interest to sit art as a subject in CXC. By the time he entered Mico University College, more encouragement caused him to hone this skill, and begin creating wonders on canvas.

Dwayne Dubidad, 30, isn’t just good, he’s great, and his pieces tell the story. He conceptualises on canvas a kaleidoscope of emotions — a simple silhouette can tell many tales, depending on the viewer’s mood at the time.

And surprisingly, painting wasn’t always his passion; he favoured sketching early on.

“My dad has five kids. We are all very good at art. I was good at drawing but my sister is the one who liked to paint,” he laughs.

“I took up painting at Mico when my art teacher said that I’d be good at it.”

He explained that his hesitation was because of the colour mixing — “I just couldn’t get the right colour.”

But then he soon recognised that perfection at mixing came with experience and the more you do it, the better you get.

Now he does acrylic, and he is inspired by everything around him.

“I get inspiration from my memories, what I like, music, my passions,” he says.

And he’s hardly one-dimensional. Dubidad is a trained teacher in primary education, who teaches music and art at Red Hills Primary School. He also plays the keyboard, bass and drums — skills he taught himself.

“My family is into the arts,” he says. “My uncle is one of the greatest cartoonists I know.”

He says that while in college he did studies on famous artists, and realised that he could do what they did.

“I have a passion. I want people to be studying about me… I don’t want to be remembered as just a teacher…”

And so he is slowly getting his name out there — he paints when the mood hits him, and he has an agent who collects and sells some of his pieces. He also does murals, and in the pipeline are plans to widen his network and get some of his pieces displayed in galleries.

“What makes me different? I try to do things people can relate to. I never do the same thing twice, so with a Dubi piece, you’re assured of getting something original and unique,” he says.

“I want people to relate to my art. They must be able to relate.”

He’s the first to admit, though, that he still has a lot to learn, but art is in his blood.

“I am my biggest critic,” he says.

For the short to medium term, Dubidad hopes to be able to get to the point where most of Jamaica knows about him.

“When my time has passed I want people to be studying about me. I want to be remembered as an artist, not just a teacher. I want to be talked about. I want to be in the argument of artists… not just people in my surroundings. I want to widen my circle.”

Dubidad paints from his home in Kingston with occasional help from daughter Gia-Kara, a budding artist at the age of two, while his “greatest inspiration”, Affia Laing, offers constructive criticism.

“She will tell me, ‘Dat nuh look good’,” he laughs. “Or, ‘Listen to me, I think you need to change that’.”

Dubidad can be reached by e-mail at dubidadkid_24@yahoo.com or by phone at 575-6982.