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“I love to work with my hands.  I love to conceive an idea in my head, sketch it out, and see it form in a tangible way.  It’s a way of focusing your emotions.  It’s self-expression.  My jewellery is a mix between costume and the ‘real’ thing; gold, silver, and semi-precious stones.”  Her pieces range from glittery and girly to funky and bold. She makes use of found items and what she calls ‘everyday treasures’. “You don’t have to dig in the garbage, but you can go to the beach and pick up coconut husks, stones, and shells. You’d be surprised what you could do with them.”  One type of material she never uses in her art, however, is products from animals; no leather belts or fur-lined cuffs for her.  A vegetarian all her life, she’s hoping to upgrade to strict vegan. The younger sister of Gabrielle Walcott is no less breathtaking than her better-known sibling, and one of the world’s greatest festival stages, the streets of Port of Spain, is where Mas lovers get to see them both in action.  Each year, the sisters are section leaders, most often with Harts.  But even here, Walcott isn’t just another pretty face and sequin-clad body;  she designs and produces her elaborate character costume herself.  She hand-trims her own pieces, shying away from the rubber-stamped bikini-and-beads look and instead gravitating toward something quirky, original, and definitely her own.  “A lot of girls prefer the pretty stuff, but I try to do something just a little bit different.”

 

Though she did get a huge amount of support from her fellow artisans at the mas camp, especially with the basic structure and the wire bending, Walcott was still left with a monumental task.  “They were strict with me.  They said, you wanted to do this: you do it.  It’s like an internship.  I learn so many things.”  She’s losing no time in putting her new knowledge to work in her jewellery and clothing design projects. It’s perhaps before the camera that this ‘shy’ beauty really sheds her last reservations.  Apart from having taken part in numerous fashion photo shoots, she’s also involved in musical and dramatic presentations.  Her biggest project so far is the lead in a local feature film, A Story About Wendy, by Sean Hodgkinson of Quirky Films, which to be released in September.  It’s also going to be part of the T&T Film Festival.

 

“It’s a modern film about a young girl who thinks she has everything together,” Walcott explains, “but two weeks before her wedding, her fiancé shatters her life.”  Even the way she was cast is a story in itself. She was the female lead in a video for Fire in the House, by English band Hard Fi, shot at the old Stollmeyer house in Santa Cruz.  “It was fun; I got to dress up as a crazed voodoo temptress.”  It’s no wonder she stood out. “I love being in front of the camera because it’s fun to entertain people.  You get to give people this escape.  They get to laugh or cry or be shocked.  Be angry with you.  It’s such a great release too, because in life we try to mind our Ps and Qs, and put on our poker face. But when you’re acting or modelling, you get to express yourself.  Shout and throw stuff.” But above and beyond all things, her next major life event will be the establishment of Heidi Walcott Designs, where she plans to incorporate all of her many talents.  The enormity of such an ambition doesn’t daunt her in the least.  “I would love to be the T&T version of Diane Von Furstenberg.  She just showed up with a suitcase full of wrap dresses...and look at her now!  She’s a feminist.  She talks about how strong women are, and how the strength or women comes out in times of tragedy.  But we shouldn’t wait until a tragedy has happened.  We should do it now; have energy and strength now. I totally believe in that.  I try to live every day that way.”