Introducing Adele Woolsey……..Top O’ Tobago’s Very Talented, Most Versatile, Extraordinarily Creative, Artist Friend

Adele Woolsey is the lady who has created almost all the artwork at Top O’ Tobago; some 23 works of art altogether. Adele and her husband, Tal, are longtime friends of Derek and Camille. having worked together at CAWST, the Centre for Affordable Water & Sanitation Technology, for many years.

Grace and Chipo, the subjects of the charcoal paintings in the main house living room at Top O’, lived in Zambia where CAWST has worked for over 20 years.

Tal and Adele live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. And Adele has been regularly chosen to exhibit her work at regional cultural events in Alberta, including the annual Calgary Stampede

Adele first started painting at Top O’ Tobago almost twenty years ago. Over a period of several years, she created the paintings in each cabana and the main house.  

 Tal built many of the picture frames.

Adele does not only paint on flat canvases.  She is an experimenter. After completing the indoor paintings, she created the outdoor murals… the Mot Mot, the Parrots in flight at Cabana 1, the Hibiscus and Hummingbird at the parking area, and the Tile Mosaic and Toucans at the Reception.

In Canada, Adele also goes beyond traditional flat canvases to create art using unconventional materials such as Venetian plaster and acrylic image transfers.

She is not only an artist, she is a scientist who carefully researches the types of paints and protections that are most suitable. The result is that all the artwork has withstood the test of time. All her paintings, indoor and outdoor, all look terrific more than a decade later. 

And she is teacher, passing on her skills to others. She hosts public instructional workshops specializing in acrylic image transferring and plaster techniques. 

But just to show, the breadth of her skills; at CAWST, Adele developed workshops in Water Quality Testing….workshops that combine in-person and online activities. They are now being used by thousands of people in developing countries. CAWST Introduction to Drinking Water Quality Testing Workshop 

Adele’s art at Top O’ Tobago can be seen from the air. (See the hummingbird on the lowest cabana wall below.)

And they are so good, they ‘fooled AI’. When a recent picture of the entrance painting was fed into AI, it identified it as a ‘tile mosaic’ with a ‘sculpture’ of a toucan.

Top O’ Tobago is pretty lucky to have friends like Adele and Tal.