David Leehue’s remarkable journey as an artist has been shaped as much by adversity as by talent.
From the loss of his mother two hours after his birth at the PoS General Hospital to a devastating road accident, and later the discovery of glaucoma in his remaining eye, Leehue has repeatedly faced circumstances that could easily have ended his artistic ambitions.
Instead, he has adapted, persevered and continued to create.
Born in 1970 and initially raised on Henry Street, Port of Spain, Leehue’s fascination with art began in childhood. Carnival bands passing in front of his home provided an early glimpse of Trinidad and Tobago’s visual culture. Comic books also played an important role.
“I grew up reading comics and trying to draw the pictures I liked,” he says. “It started with tracing images, then colouring them. I would eventually try drawing them on my own. This pastime was my go-to for peace of mind.”
At Queen’s Royal College (QRC), art teacher Jackie Hinkson rekindled that passion and introduced him to the discipline and possibilities of art.
“For three years he showed me the ins and outs of art, which made me want to know more,” Leehue says, “and if I could make art my occupation.”
“But by Form Four he was no longer there, and the teacher I got didn’t give me the encouragement,” he adds.
“Art class remained my favourite class. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the pass in Art, and when you had people telling you there was no future in it to make real money, I kept thinking maybe they were right.”
Eventually, Leehue refused to accept that verdict.
After leaving school, he immersed himself in the emerging airbrush scene, bought his own equipment and sought out people who could teach him.
He worked in sign painting, ceramics and other jobs while steadily developing his craft. Eventually, his work expanded from T-shirts to maxi taxis, walls, gas tank covers and portraits.
His reputation grew, and he became known for producing quality work quickly, including last-minute commissions.
Then, on Christmas Eve 2001, disaster struck.
While waiting to cross the road in Barataria, Leehue was hit by a car. He awoke two days later in hospital to discover that he had lost his right eye and his right arm was also badly injured.
“I then found out that the doctor in the hospital didn’t set my arm properly, so I had to do surgery to reset it,” Leehue says. “This put me in a constant state of depression, seeing that art was always my place of peace. I started getting to a state where I felt like a total failure.”
For an artist whose work and livelihood depended on his hands and vision, the implications were devastating.
Depression followed, accompanied by the fear that he could no longer support himself or his family.
Support from the QRC Old Boys Association helped his family through the first difficult year. But Leehue knew he eventually had to rebuild his independence.
With his former workplace later destroyed by fire, he took whatever work he could find while continuing to paint whenever opportunities arose. Carnival became an important outlet, particularly through body painting.
Years later came another blow: glaucoma in his remaining eye.
Once again, Leehue adapted. Technology became an ally. He began enlarging images and using guidelines, tracing paper and stencils to compensate for the difficulties of fine detail.
He shifted increasingly towards larger canvases and learned to work within the limitations imposed by his eyesight.
Today, Leehue no longer measures himself simply by what he has lost.
His artistic confidence has grown, and his message to young artists is unequivocal: never abandon what you love. He believes people will recognise the value of authentic work if the artist continues to see and create.
“My advice to young aspiring artists is never give up on your loves. It took me this long to learn that I’m as good as anyone out there and that even though I have doubts, there are people out there that would buy my work because they see it for what it is,” he says.
“Art is what the person looking at it sees. I see art in everything that’s around me.”
For Leehue, art remains both vocation and survival – a means of sustaining himself, expressing what he sees and continuing to create despite the challenges he has faced.
