<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>We met as strangers to ourselves and each
other but, in just two hours, you leave with an understanding that art connects
us in ways we sometimes fail to acknowledge.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>The hustle and bustle of everyday work and life faded away as effortlessly as incense wafted through the Epican Café and Lounge at the Marketplace in Kingston.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>A subtle but recognisably steady vibration
from the surrounding music reminds you that ‘Puff &amp; Paint’ is far from what
you had expected.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Not often as a journalist do I get to
experience a new way of expression first hand. I’ve been most comfortable with words,
but I was assured that tonight, through colour, my point of view would be
different; and it was. </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Two canvas, one pre-rolled joint and a
palette over two hours. That’s the simple brilliance of Puff &amp; Paint.&nbsp; </p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>It’s just something you must see, feel,
taste and hear on a personal level to truly believe and appreciate but I must
say the experience was amazing.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>BUZZ caught up with conceptualiser for
‘Puff &amp; Paint’, Master painter Rosemarie Chung, who attests to the
programme’s specialised qualities.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>According to Chung, to get a genuine
experience of art through medical marijuana, one needs to leave their
expectations at the door.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>“The programme basically is using marijuana
with the creative arts, specifically painting. My focus is on non-artists and
what I wanted to do was show the effect marijuana [can] have for persons in
that creative process,”</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>“You’re painting with very little
instructions, but I do have a reference that I start you with, which are
symbols that our foreparents used: the Adinkra symbols from Ghana,”</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>A panel of 20 Adinkra symbols were lain out
in from out us, with the instruction being very simple, “Choose what calls to
you”.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Being the careful intellect I assume I am,
I choose ‘knowledge’ and attempted the best I could to replicate the intricate
design in the half-hour window we were given.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Then was came the fun part: ‘puffing’.
There was nothing really special about the pre-rolled joint handed to us by the
staff at Epican, but its contents begged to differ. <br>
<br>
Inside was the powerful ‘Lamb’s breath’ strain of sativa, reportedly Bob
Marley’s favourite to smoke and the excitement (at least from my end) was
palpable.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>The high was clean and sharp, hitting you
almost immediately but not totally claiming your senses…it was relaxing,
euphoric.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>“It’s a way to start a journey of
self-expression,” ‘Rozi’ Chung told me, as we returned after refreshments to
begin a second canvas – without any guidance, symbols or care in the world.
“Paint how you feel, use anything that comes naturally in your mind,” she spoke
to us collectively.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>The explosion of colour took shape right
away.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>Speaking with the BUZZ team after the
event, Chung explained further that she considers Puff &amp; Paint to be an
investigation into minds of any willing Jamaican – outside the scrutiny of
Western concepts such as ‘who is or what makes one an artist’.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>“I’ve been working from 2018, looking at
how marijuana could either enhance the creativity or go within instinct to
begin to be aware of one’s creative possibilities,”</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>“We already know that marijuana is used
mostly in the entertainment industry, but what I’m doing is having people who had
no career-minded outlook in the visual arts, try cannabis and see the results,”</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>“There’s no competition, no reference;
you’re totally free,”</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>“We normally have 10 people working
independently and every work is different. That is itself is quite amazing, because
this process gets you to express your inner self in a particular way,”</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>For many participants, like myself, it was
a shock to see what I created under the influence of marijuana, a reaction all
too common to Rozi Chung and Epican.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>“People are quite intrigued in this part of
self – they’ve never had this experience. Generally, marijuana is used to
chill, but to be able to use it in a way that you are intentionally creating
something, is such an interesting thing for many,”</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->

<!-- wp:paragraph -->
<p>I, for one, was completely taken aback by
my choice of colour for my second canvas, which started dark at the bottom but
turned bright and airy nearest the top.</p>
<!-- /wp:paragraph -->