Nancy Pistilli Byrnes
"I have been painting for over 40 years. In 1965 I graduated from the University of Connecticut with a BFA in Art and taught High School Art for several years before raising a family.
After first visiting St. Croix in 1972 and subsequently purchasing a home here in 1986, I became thoroughly enthralled with the colors, the surroundings and the inhabitants of the island. Though my permanent home is in Connecticut, my heart is in St Croix, where I maintain a studio and paint whole-heartedly while in residence.
Most of my paintings are derived from what I call "happy accidents"-- that's when my colors and my paint brush simply take over and the subject matter just pops out at me, dictating the steps I will take, and directing me to control on canvas, what is emerging from my imagination. Other times I work from one of my photos, giving it my personality and allowing my own thoughts to permeate the painting. I usually work quickly, using gesture and color to suggest movement and emotion.
In 2009 I was chosen as the poster artist for the annual Good Hope School Fine Art Exhibit. I've also been featured in several Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts calendars, and appeared in The Caribbean Writer in addition to private collections in the US and the Caribbean.
Thankfully, my two grown sons, their wives, and two grandchildren have come to love and to appreciate St Croix as much as I do and when they visit I hand out canvases, paint and brushes, as it has become our family tradition to paint and to wonder at the beauty this island has to offer. I am grateful to have the opportunity to practice my skill in the most wonderful place on earth!
My work can be seen at Danica Gallery and The Gold Worker in Christiansted and at The Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts in Frederiksted. For more information, email me at Byrncyart@hotmail.com or phone me at 340 778 1268."
