24-Year-Old Guyanese Artist Turns Lifelong Drawing Gift into Nkechi’s Muse Gallery

By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News |

GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — What began as a lifelong love for drawing and a search for income during the COVID-19 pandemic has blossomed into a thriving creative enterprise for 24-year-old Guyanese artist and entrepreneur Kayarah Hazlewood, founder and proprietor of Nkechi’s Muse Gallery.

Launched online in July 2021 with encouragement from family and friends, the digital gallery—named after one of Hazlewood’s own names, “Nkechi”—offers original paintings, custom-commissioned artwork, sketches, and home décor. Recently, the self-taught creative expanded into hand-painted fabrics and apparel, a move that has sparked surging customer demand and opened new avenues into fashion design.

Artistic Foundations: From St. Stanislaus College to Pandemic Entrepreneurship

Speaking with HGP Nightly News, Hazlewood—a former St. Stanislaus College alumna and University of Guyana graduate—traced how early classroom exposure and targeted summer training helped turn her personal hobby into a sustainable business:

• Early Visual Arts Exposure: While she grew up sketching, Hazlewood was formally introduced to painting during a single year of Visual Arts in secondary school, later sharpening her technical foundation through an August program at the E.R. Burrowes School of Art.
• Pandemic Catalyst: After completing school without formal employment during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hazlewood heeded loved ones’ encouragement to monetize her artistic talent, founding Nkechi’s Muse Gallery in July 2021.
• Branching into Fabric & Fashion: Prompted by a friend and mentor who challenged her to experiment with painting on textiles, Hazlewood stepped outside her comfort zone. The positive reception of her inaugural fabric piece generated steady referrals, inspiring her to integrate clothing design into her future roadmap while staying grounded in fine visual arts.

“It was up until I was in secondary [school], I was introduced to painting in Visual Arts and did that for one year… The encouragement came during the pandemic. At the time I did not have a job—I just finished school—and I said, ‘This is my way of making money.’… The gallery offers not only original pieces that I do, but mostly customized pieces. I also do home decors, and recently I would have transitioned into doing fabric paintings.” — Kayarah Hazlewood, Proprietor of Nkechi’s Muse Gallery

Afrocentric Storytelling and Calls for Greater Cultural Platforms

Deeply inspired by her Afrocentric identity, Hazlewood weaves elements of cultural heritage into her visual storytelling, using canvas and fabric alike to celebrate her roots. Despite her growing online clientele, however, she believes Guyana’s creative ecosystem must provide broader public platforms for visual artists:

• Integrating Art into National Celebrations: Rather than confining exhibitions exclusively to traditional art galleries, Hazlewood urged event organizers and state planners to incorporate visual artists directly into major cultural observances such as Emancipation and Indigenous Heritage events.
• Global Ambitions: Looking ahead, Hazlewood plans to transition Nkechi’s Muse Gallery from an exclusively digital storefront into a physical studio and gallery space while taking her bespoke Guyanese art and painted apparel to international markets.

“It does not even have to be at a particular art gallery, but it can be at Emancipation—we have the Indigenous events that the government usually hosts—so why not incorporate the visual arts in those areas as well?” — Kayarah Hazlewood