Desiree Smith describes herself as a contemporary artist and is an accomplished painter as well as a graphic artist. Photo: VINO

Desiree stands beside one of her favourite creations which hangs in her office. Photo: VINO

A spread of magazines which includes productions that Desiree supervises on a daily basis. Photo: VINO

The Tumult of Thought - a piece painted and sold by Desiree at the BVI London Office hosted art exhibition. Image: supplied

Shulamite Woman - another piece painted and sold by Desiree at the BVI London Office hosted art exhibition. Image: supplied

A head piece production by Desiree for Miss BVI contestant Anna John; the outfit won Best Cultural/Historical Costume for the Miss BVI 2012 pageant. Photo: supplied

Born in Tortola, Desiree grew up in St Thomas, United States Virgin Islands (USVI) after moving there at the age of five. She attended the J. Antonio Jarvis, Addelita Cancryn Junior High and Charlotte Amalie High Schools in the USVI where she graduated in 1989.

The youngest of nine children, including three brothers and five sisters, Desiree moved back to Tortola following her education in St Thomas on the advice of her aunt, Barbara Turnbull, a former principal of the Elmore Stoutt High School.

Once she moved back to the Territory, her aunt, she disclosed, encouraged her to continue her studies and it was at this juncture, she explained that her propensity towards art led her in the obvious direction of further studies in the field and Desiree was fortunate to receive a scholarship through the Ministry of Education in order to be able to do so.

She studied Visual Communication with a concentration in Graphic Design at the American Inter-Continental University in Atlanta, Georgia. Desiree said of her experience at college, “It was a great experience because I was all about learning at that time. I think the fact that I deferred going to college right out of high school made me a bit more serious, so by the time I got there I was only focused on getting the most out of the experience and learning as much as I could.”

During her time at college, Desiree racked up a slew of accomplishments, including a 4.0 GPA in addition to places on both the Dean’s and President’s lists. She was also an Alpha Chi National College Honour Society member. “It was very rewarding,” she said, “but I did a lot of work and it was really, truly my only focus at that time.”

When she graduated, Desiree returned once more to Tortola to take up an appointment as a Teacher at the then BVI High School where she taught Art, Craft and Graphic Design to senior students for seven years before leaving in 2006.

She then moved on to the Limin’ Times magazine where she did production work and graphic design for a brief period. “It was a good real life experience of doing what I studied in college,” she said of her short tenure at the company.

Her next vocational stop was at the Ministry of Communication and Works where she started out as a Personal Assistant to the Permanent Secretary before her position eventually evolved into an administrative role when her time to leave approached.

Desiree currently works as Graphic Supervisor and artist in the Department of Information and Public Relations within the Government of the Virgin Islands, a position she took up in 2008.

Her work at the Department entails supervising and production of various design-related products for print and electronic media as requested by the various Government Ministries and Departments, including magazines, brochures, posters, invitations, booklets and pamphlets such as those for Farmers’ Week, The Pulse, The LINK and other similar works.

Her day to day work involves any visual component seen in Government campaigns, she disclosed.

Desiree also related that she now has her own business, InsideOut as well, where she works on special requests and is able to produce contemporary artwork, primarily in paint media, something she sees as offering herself a different and much more personal creative expression. The talented artist also does costume production for pageant contestants in addition to all of this.

Our Young Professional’s life is not all about work and no play, as can be imagined and she does manage to live a full life in between her very hectic day to day schedule.

“I really love to dance,” Desiree said about her passion for this particular form of expression. She explained that she also enjoys travelling to exotic locations for the enlightenment and freedom that they offer. Being a fervent artist to her core, as she neatly puts it, "My main focus when I travel is to absorb the culture and lifestyle of the place through its art."

Desiree is also an active member of the local artists’ association and was keen to mention the group’s annual show that is done in advance of the work that is then hosted by the BVI London Office. She was also proud to note that two of her three pieces at the 2012 show in London were sold and described this as a huge accomplishment that reinforced the path she took in her life with regard to her work as a visual artist.

“It’s important to realise what you like to do and pursue that,” Desiree advised young aspiring professionals. She added, “I think money will come ultimately once we pursue something that we really enjoy, because we will do it any way and it will make our life a lot more fulfilling.” She suggested this as an alternative route to simply chasing monetary compensation for work that is done.

She further stated that this fulfilment would come as a result of a certain mindset and attitude that one would find as liberating oneself from the chase, allowing for more creativity regardless of the field of work that is chosen.

Desiree also encouraged young persons to think about things that they had always enjoyed doing over the years in choosing a vocation. “It can give you insight and be an indication as to where you can really go in a career path because it would be something that is familiar and enjoyable and a lot more rewarding than something that is just done for prestige or for money,” she added.