Featured Artist : Daniel Jean-Baptiste

My name is Daniel Jean-Baptiste, I am a St. Lucian / Canadian silk  artist. I create vibrant silk paintings for the art market. I use the  Dye-na-flow silk paints brand  from Dharma Trading. I  am inspired by nature to create art  that depicts how beautiful I see the world.

BIO:

Daniel Gabriel Angelo Jean-Baptiste was born on the Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia , in 1963, to parents  of  Dutch Jewish and African Carib descent.

Jean-Baptiste  childhood experience  was  that of a tiny one street Village of Choiseul, under the shadow of the towering Gros Piton. Spare time  was spent  fishing off the village’s long wooden jetty, which gave  Jean-Baptiste first glimpses  of the colourful  creatures  that inhabited the Caribbean Sea. The plants  and fish  that intrigued  the young boy would later dominate his art. Childhood days were sweet, sweet as perfumed breezes of Saint Lucia.

In 1978  he moved to Canada where he was introduced to silk painting during his eight years working with a commercial art  for Display Arts of Toronto. In 1988 Jean-Baptiste  began his own display company , Cobalt Illustrations, producing hand painted silk banners for shopping centres and real estate developers across Canada.

In 1995 Jean-Baptiste moved back to St. Lucia  with his wife and two children. His work reflecting the beauty of the island’s fish and flowers. Jean-Baptiste focuses in on his subject, magnifying its beauty and vibrant colour. The translucency of his work allows  light to further enhance the silk’s natural luster. He is the originator of the shimmer light water technique.

Today he resides and paints out of his studios in Canada and St. Lucia.