INTERNATIONALLY-ACCLAIMED ARTIST UNVEILS HER LOCKDOWN MASTERPIECES

Internationally-acclaimed artist, Janice Sylvia Brock, has unveiled her latest and best works including a number of pieces painted during lockdown.

The artist, whose life has been fractured by Still’s disease – a progressive and debilitating form of rheumatoid arthritis, has completed six paintings that mark a highpoint in her already illustrious career.

The following paintings, ‘La Femme Blanche’, ‘Yellow Chair’, ‘The Fruit Carrier’, ‘Orange Eden’, ‘Dawn Light’ and ‘The Bather’ are all oil on canvas and are available to view and buy on Saatchi Art.

Only last year the renowned artist completed a series of murals over twice her size atNirvana Spa in Sindlesham, Berks. Named the ‘Goddesses Of Life,’ they represented one of the most challenging commissions of her career.

The huge physical and artistic undertaking involved the diminutive artist, who at just 4′ 10″ painted four 11ft high arched expanses from gantries over a four month period.

Depicting the four seasons, her murals were inspired by Greek and Roman myths. Colourful and engaging, the four feminine forms were painted with a lightness of touch and fin-de-siècle elegance that belied her brutally crippled hands. They collectively formed a masterpiece which represents a complete departure in style.

Janice Sylvia Brock is renowned for her vibrant and dynamic paintings, courageous use of colour and passionate and beautiful representations of the female form; over the years, she has been compared to Matisse and the Fauvist painters, Modigliani and Picasso.

During her career she has exhibited in London’s world-famous Saatchi Gallery. She has also been a guest of HM The Queen at Buckingham Palace, while a private showing of her work was attended by HRH The Prince of Wales.

Her paintings have changed hands for as much as $200,000 and hang in private collections in the Caribbean, Canada, Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the USA, most notably in the White House.

Of her life she says: “As a child I suffered lengthy hospitalisations and was often away from home for months at a time recovering from painful operations.

My disease is progressive and I now have to hold the brush with two hands. In spite of my physical challenges, I have had an incredible career. My art gives me a quality of life beyond all my suffering. I have never said no to anything.

“The sheer scale and time frame of last year’s commission however tested my health. This year painting from my home studio during lockdown has been far less strenuous.

Despite facing numerous orthopaedic surgeries and living in constant pain, Janice Sylvia Brock expresses nothing but joy on canvas.

Her book ‘Impressions of the Caribbean’ is now almost completely sold out, and her autobiography My Life on Canvas, a coffee table autobiography illustrated with colour plates of her art, is now available in print.

Janice Sylvia Brock’s work can be viewed at one of her studio galleries in St James, Barbados and in Cheshire, UK and also purchased online. Go towww.janicesylviabrock.com