JONATHAN GUY-GLADDING

Jonathan Guy-Gladding (JAG) Artist Bio 

The best thing that ever happened to me was being sent to the Caribbean in 1999. I had been living in New York City working as a computer artist for Sesame Street while trying to squeeze in my own art on evenings and weekends. I think even if I had more time, what I was lacking most was inspiration. 

Feeling the need to expand my horizons beyond New York and take on a new challenge, I applied to be a volunteer in the Peace Corps and had the great fortune to be sent to the island of St. Lucia in July of 1999. Serving as a woodwork instructor in the beautiful southern coastal village of Laborie, I found there an unending ending supply of rich subject matter in the faces and postures of the uniformed schoolchildren, the people going about their daily lives, and the traditional cultural aspects that make St. Lucia such a wonderful and distinctive place. The pride in heritage and Kwéyòl culture combined with a sense of community and responsibility toward one another deeply impressed me and gave direction to my work. So with all these elements set in front of a landscape of vibrant greens, stunning blues, and warm browns, and illuminated by a quality of light I had never experienced before, I had found in St. Lucia what artists have always traveled far and near to find- true inspiration.

Although I had been painting for years in a cubist style, I felt that realism was best suited to communicate in paint the feelings and ideas that I wanted to share. It is my desire to tell a story in details, whether it’s about the warmth and spirit of the people of the Caribbean or something as simple as the way the reflected light colors the edge of a child’s face. While most inspired by what I see around me every day, I also find inspiration in the work of old masters like Jan Vermeer, Thomas Eakins, and John Singer Sargent as well as illustrator Norman Rockwell and contemporary watercolorist Stephen Scott Young, oil painters Mian Situ, Scott Burdick, and Richard Schmid. 

What I thought would be a two-year interuption in my life has now turned into eight and counting . And rather than an interuption it’s been pivotal for me both as a person and an artist. I now feel deeply rooted to St. Lucia and the village of Laborie and hope that I can repay at least a little bit of all that’s been shared with and given to me here on this island. 

Education

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1988-1992 University of Massachusetts Junior/Senior Art Awards, 1992 • Best in Show • Internal Jurors Award • External Jurors Award 

Recent Exhibitions 

One Man Shows:

• Caribbean Realism - Horizons Art Gallery, St. James, Trinidad, August, 2007

• Caribbean Realism- The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St, Lucia, February, 2007

• Goddesses and Queens- The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St, Lucia, February, 2005

• Recent Works- The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St, Lucia, March, 2004

• Recent Works- The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia February, 2003

• Manmay-La -The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St, Lucia July, 2003

• Kwéyòl Pentiwé- Alliance Francaise, Castries, St. Lucia, October 2002

• Images of Laborie- Labowi Promotions, Laborie, St. Lucia, December 2001

• Carnival and St. Lucian Culture- West India Art Company, Hyatt Hotel, St. Lucia, July, 2001

• Group Shows:

• From St. Lucia - Horizons Art Gallery, St. James, Trinidad April, 2006

• Best of America -2006 National Associan of Oil and Acrylic Painters Society Bolivar, Missouri, November 2005 * Award of Excellence

• 2006 New England Exhibition- Cape Cod Art Association Barnstable, Massachusetts, July 2005 *Awarded Second Place 

• Best of America 2005- National Associan of Oil and Acrylic Painters Society Bolivar, Missouri, November 2005 *Awarded Windsor and Newton Award of Excellence

• 2005 New England Exhibition- Cape Cod Art Association Barnstable, Massachusetts, July 2005 *Awarded First Place 

• Gingerbread- Caribbean Artists Group Show  Campbells of London, London, England, June 2004

• Lucian Vibes- The Inner Gallery, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, May 2004

• National Emerging Artists- Savacou Gallery, New York, NY, July 2002

• National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic Salmagundi Club, New York, NY, June 2002

• Small Works Christmas Show- West India Art Company, Pointe Seraphine, St. Lucia, December 2001