WHEN seeking an office job turned up nil for Kristen Cole, it was the visual art of painting that came to her rescue. The 22-year-old Jonathan Grant High School graduate turned her hobby into a business this January after approximately six months in the wilderness of unemployment.

“Last year was a depressing year for me,” she confesses to the Jamaica Observer.

“I couldn’t find any jobs. My dad turned to me one day and said, ‘Why don’t you start selling your paintings’? So right after that I started.”

And that is where K Cole Painting began its heroics.

‘Heroics’ because Cole has no formal training in visual art. She built on what she described as a “a knack” for the expression dating back to her days in prep school, and taught herself everything she now knows.

“It started from St Jago prep. I always doodled in the back of my books, and I’m always competing with classmates to see who can draw better. That’s wher e I found out I could draw,” she says.

Come high school, Cole says she developed a deeper interest in art, but not to the extent of making it a career. This was due to certain notions that art was not lucrative in Jamaica. As a matter of fact, it it were not for the intervention of her mother and her art teacher, she would not have even sat the subject at Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).

“I didn’t really like art [the subject], but my art teacher Ms Ferguson saw something different. She pushed me into it. I didn’t want to do it but she and my mom came together and pushed me. If I had put more effort into it, I would have got a distinction,” she tells

Career & Education.

Cole would later shake the indifference, growing to appreciate the subject and digging into extensive research on different forms. Painting became her passion.

“I didn’t pick up the paint brush right away, but I started to research about painting — how to do it, and the different types; everything about painting. And then after that, I saved my lunch money and purchased all my materials by myself and just started to paint. That was about eight years ago,” says Cole.

Although her interest had deepened, at that time the young woman had no thought of turning her passion into profit. After high school, she worked as a secretary at a local real estate firm. But the business soon caved and she laid off. During the months at home, it was art that comforted her, as she delved deeper into her research and painted away her sorrows.

When she acted on her father’s suggestion to sell her pieces, Cole said she was surprised at the traction it gained and how quickly the pieces went and continue to go. She markets her products primarily online, through the social media platforms

Facebook andInstagram. Prices range from $10,000 to $40,000 depending on the size and complexity of the particular piece. She gets frequent requests to repaint or print works that have already been sold, Cole says.

“Let’s say that I put it [online ] now, I can possibly get three to four sold this week,” she says. “I have collectors come and ask if I have any new paintings and I show them what I have.”

The young artist reveals that she is currently working on a new collection, in addition to fulfilling special orders and is in discussions with a local entity to have her artwork sold in a store in Manchester. She also has plans to get her work into the hands of art curators and interior decorators.

“Sooner or later you’re going to see my paintings in pharmacies, MegaMart, and just about anywhere you expect to find good art pieces. You’re going to see my copies,” she says, clearly proud of her success to date and determined to achieve even more in future.

As a young entrepreneur, the 22-year-old acknowledges that she had to learn how to be disciplined in operating as a business, even though she is the only employee.

“You have to learn how to organise things. Like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday it’s strictly business in terms of marketing the art. Thursday, Friday and Saturday are to paint, while Sunday is to just relax,” Cole said, noting that she can turnaround a 12” x 24” painting in a week.

When asked why people should buy her work, Cole, who says she takes inspiration from everything, replied, “Because it’s good! It doesn’t matter whether you are a professional artist once the quality of your work is good!”

Speaking to her own journey, the young woman posits that even with the knack she identified in prep school, her skills would not have developed without constant practice.

“No one is truly born with a gift,” she says. “They take it up and they practise it and take hours upon hours to master it. One can do anything as long as you are interested and are willing to put in the work; you can reach as far as you can go. I believe I can learn anything I want to learn,” says Cole, who in addition to teaching herself to paint, taught herself to use PhotoShop to edit for online marketing.

In terms of advice to fellow young entrepreneurs, she speaks about global marketing.

“It’s not only about Jamaica. There are so many platforms that you can use to get your stuff [in the public domain]. The market is wide. And that is why I put most of my stuff online,” she says.

“Even if it’s not fast in Jamaica, it’s a worldwide market,” she continues.

Cole, who admires local artists Barrington Watson and Richard Hall, hopes to become as great as the former, winning art competitions and distributing her work worldwide.