Janet Pierce

{{Short description|Scottish-born painter based in Ireland (born 1947)}}

{{Infobox artist

| name =

| image = Janet-Pierce-portrait.jpg

| image_size =

| alt = Portrait of Janet Pierce

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| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1947}}

| birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland

| death_date =

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| other_names =

| nationality =Scottish/Irish

| alma_mater = Edinburgh College of Art
Moray House School of Education

| parents =

| elected = Aosdána (2000)

| known_for = acrylics, watercolour, tapestry

| notable_works =

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| spouse = {{plainlist|

Richard Pierce
{{marriage |Felim Egan |1993|2005|end=sep}}

}}

| partner =

| children =3

| website = {{URL|janetpierce.com}}

| embedded =

}}

Janet Pierce (born 1947) is a Scottish-born painter based in Ireland.{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KcEzAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Janet+Pierce%22+art|title=Arts Review|date=8 March 1994|publisher=Richard Gainsborough Periodicals.|via=Google Books}}{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kH9UAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Janet+Pierce%22+art|title=Circa|date=8 March 1997|publisher=Artists Collective of N. Ireland.|via=Google Books}} She is a member of Aosdána, an elite Irish association of artists.

Early life

Pierce was born in Edinburgh in 1947.{{Cite web|url=https://scottish-gallery.co.uk/artist/janet-pierce|title=Janet Pierce | Artists at the Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh|website=The Scottish Gallery}}

Career

Pierce studied at Edinburgh College of Art and Moray House School of Education in 1965–69. Elizabeth Blackadder and William George Gillies were early influences.{{Cite journal|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25556670|title=Janet Pierce in Conversation with Anne Davey Orr|author1=Orr, Anne Davey|author2=Pierce, Janet|year=1982|journal=Circa|issue=4|pages=12–14|doi=10.2307/25556670|jstor=25556670|url-access=subscription}}

She taught in borstals for a year before moving her career to the United States, first exhibiting at the Everhart Museum in Pennsylvania. She moved to Ireland in 1977 and has lived and worked there since.{{Cite web|url=http://www.janetpierce.com/biography.php|title=Janet Pierce a contemporary spiritual artist working on canvas, paper and with tapestry.|website=www.janetpierce.com}}

Pierce was elected to Aosdána in 2000.{{Cite web|url=http://www.janetpierce.com/awards.php|title=Awards won by artist Janet Pierce|website=www.janetpierce.com}} She has also received awards from the Fundación Valparaíso and Sanskriti Foundation.{{Cite web|url=http://aosdana.artscouncil.ie/members/pierce/|title=Aosdána|website=aosdana.artscouncil.ie}} Much of her work was based on the landscapes and seascapes of the Scottish Highlands and County Donegal; since 2006 she has also incorporated Indian influences.{{Cite web|url=http://www.warren-gallery.com/artist/janet-pierce/239/|title=Janet Pierce | Irish Art by Janet Pierce at The Warren Gallery Fine Art and Framing|website=www.warren-gallery.com}} In The Irish Times, Ian Hill said "No closet romantic, Janet Pierce would surely have us respond with tears to the boldness of her large and moody landscapes, strong in colour, rich in storm and sunset. […] she strives on the one hand to capture spiritual darkness, on the other to release an unfashionable lightness of being. […]

Surprising are the centres of her paintings' surfaces, where encrusted papers enfold a delicacy of detail through an accomplished eye."{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ceanalas-janet-pierce-1.125887|title=Ceanalas/Janet Pierce|first=Ian|last=Hill|newspaper=The Irish Times}}

In 2015 she illustrated Ladakh, a book of poetry by Sudeep Sen.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/web-women-and-a-westlife-weightlifter-1.531592|title=Web women, and a Westlife weightlifter|first=James|last=Gibbons|newspaper=The Irish Times}}

Personal life

Pierce had three children with her first husband, architect Richard Pierce.{{Cite web|url=https://richardhpierce.wordpress.com/about/|title=About|date=7 March 2010}} In 1993, she married Irish artist Felim Egan; they lived in Edinburgh and Sandymount. They separated in the mid-2000s.{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/felim-egan-obituary-one-of-ireland-s-leading-contemporary-artists-1.4426649|title=Felim Egan obituary: One of Ireland's leading contemporary artists|newspaper=The Irish Times}}

Pierce lives in the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, County Monaghan.{{Cite web|url=https://www.saatchiart.com/janetpierce|title=Janet Pierce|website=Saatchi Art}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/homes-and-property/where-the-heart-is-the-peace-of-living-alone-after-30-years-of-marriage-1.3618069|title=Where the Heart Is: The peace of living alone after 30 years of marriage|first=Jacqui|last=Corcoran|newspaper=The Irish Times}}