"Roland will paint a live model, a prominent lady in our community, who will pose for the oil painting," said Reiph.
"This is an exclusive art class that Roland gives at the luxurious La Samanna Resort to art lovers, wealthy collectors, and tourists who pay to attend. The book fair is opening up the Master Art Class to all for free on Saturday at USM, as a workshop highlight. So we're encouraging people to come early," said Reiph.
The people at the open-air art class in the USM garden will see how the artist paints a model from beginning to end. "Roland will also talk with the audience about art and answer questions about his work in a comfortable setting," said Reiph.
According to the book fair program, art lovers, collectors, children and adults who would love to paint or are just starting to paint, fellow artists, and the curious among general the public "will experience painting and creative talks while seeing live portraits, still life and ‘plein air' paintings all come to life on the artist's canvas" by Sir Roland Richardson, a senior St. Martin painter and leading Caribbean impressionist.
The bulk of the Saturday workshops and book sales takes place at USM in Philipsburg after an opening ceremony that drew over 120 people at the Chamber of Commerce building in Marigot on Thursday. The visiting writers and St. Martin authors visited about 10 schools on Friday and recited their works publically that evening, said Reiph.
Among the 10 workshops on Saturday is Women's Health and Fertility Treatment, which will discuss cervical cancer, pap smear and other related topics by Dr. Randall Friday, MD - starting at 10:30 AM.
Other workshops are News Reporting on Haiti - Does it matter who's telling the story? by Lochard Noel (USA/Haiti), and Internet blogs, Book reviews, Literary criticism, by Nicholas Laughlin, editor/blogger, The Caribbean Review of Books.
Jan Beaujon, Windward Islands Bank managing director will conduct the session on Challenges and Opportunities - St. Martin and Global Economic Crises at 11.
The Saturday general session is The Hanging of Angelique - Canada, Slavery and the Burning of Montreal by Dr. Afua Cooper (Canada/USA).
The new HNP book, Sovereignty of the Imagination, Language and the Politics of Ethnicity by George Lamming, the noted Caribbean scholar from Barbados, will be launched at the closing ceremony at Belair Community Center, 8 PM. Dr. Lamming will be on hand to read and sign autographs. Dr. Sandra Paquet from the University of Miami will introduce the book.