“In her solitude”
The Caribbean Review of Books, January 2011
Does suffering produce the best art? It’s not an original question, but it is one that prompts itself several times during the course of documentary filmmaker Mariel Brown’s most recent film, a portrait of the Trinidadian jeweller Barbara Jardine. For over three decades, not unlike the manner in which she works with her raw materials, Jardine has slowly and quietly carved out a niche for herself as a creator of unique pieces of jewellery. Many of these pieces are commissioned works that are meant to be nothing more than decorative. Her most interesting pieces, however, are those that tell a story, their inspiration drawn from the details of Jardine’s personal life — one that, while it has seen its joys, has also known its fair share of trouble and tragedy.
“The Solitary Alchemist at MovieTowne”
Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival, 25th September 2009
Yesterday evening, a full house at MovieTowne POS sat enraptured by filmmaker Mariel Brown’s documentary, The Solitary Alchemist – an intimate and moving portrayal of the life and art of Trinidadian jeweller, Barbara Jardine. The film traces Barbie’s history, from her education at London’s Royal College of Art to the return to her native Trinidad in 1974 and her life here since, with a present-day focus on Barbie’s creation of a new work for an exhibition in Scotland. After the film, Mariel answered a few questions with Barbie and Sean Edghill, her cameraman, and Eniola Adelekan, her cinematographer.
“Goldsmith”
Pleasure, 23rd December 2009
One of the most touching moments in The Solitary Alchemist is its dedication. The film, directed by Mariel Brown, premiered at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in September, mere days after the death of Brown’s father the influential journalist and poet Wayne Brown. A title card at the end of the film reads: “In loving memory of Wayne Brown…” It is a fitting end to a film that is about an artist coming to terms with self-doubt over the trajectory of her career and with her own peculiar emotions…