Pollen Eixab
Young entrepreneur and abstract artist Celine Marie Louise Gautrois or ‘CelineThePoet’ – as she is known on her social media platforms – says it is important for novice business owners to believe in their vision.
Recognising that running a business takes a lot of work, the creative advised entrepreneurs to stay focused and trust in their vision by making incremental efforts towards growing their business, despite the resources available to them.
“It’s better to start somewhere than to never start anywhere,” she told Youth Corner.
While studying visual arts and music at the University of Namibia, Gautrois is also the owner of ‘The Inner You’ online shop, through which she sells handmade crystal jewellery, such as necklaces, earrings, bracelets and keychains.
“Crystals are beautiful gifts from the Creator – just like diamonds,” she said.
The 23-year-old expresses her other artistic interests through painting abstracts with acrylic and watercolours on canvas, music and poetry.
Narrating her experience at the annual World Music Day event, hosted by the Franco Namibian Cultural Centre (FNCC) last month, where she performed, Gautrois said she is excited to continue working on new content after a three-year break.
“I feel so honoured that they chose me to perform. It had been three years since my last live performance. Because of Covid, I took a hiatus from my music.”
She is also heavily influenced by her religion as seen by her expressions on her Instagram page @celinethepoet.
“I really cannot operate my life without it,” said the artist about her faith.
“I see the Bible as being instructions for how I should live my life. Additionally, it assists me in gaining a lot of mental strength and wisdom to apply to life situations.”
Gautrois grew up in a small town near Washington D.C, where she said she “felt different”, but that she is still grateful for the choices her French/Spanish father and Namibian mother made when they moved to the US, saying it influenced a lot of the work she does today.
She returned to Namibia from the US in 2019 – and while still fairly new to the Namibian creative scene, the artist wants to make an impactful difference within the industry.
“I hope to play an essential role in providing to the artistic atmosphere of Namibia as a young creative looking to expand internationally – being a multicultural, mixed child.”
Anyone trying to connect with the artist can contact her on the following platforms: Instagram/celinethepoet@gmail.com/ www.celinethepoet.com