BIOGRAPHY

Janet Pierce was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947. She studied at Edinburgh College of Art and Moray House, Edinburgh from 1965-1969 and had her first solo exhibition in the Everhart Museum, Scranton, Pennysylvania in 1973. After four years in America she moved to Ireland where she has since lived and worked, while keeping in touch with her native Scotland. Pierce’s first solo exhibition in Ireland was in the Arts Council Gallery, Belfast in 1977 since when she has continued to exhibit in Solo and Group exhibitions in Ireland, U.K, India and in the U.S.

Following an intensely close involvement with India, since 2003, her work has found a source in Indian sacred singing and meditation. She follows the path of the Hindu Guru, Sri Vasudeva, and chanting and meditation form part of her daily ritual. The word Om, from the ancient Sanskrit alphabet, is the sound of the universe or the Source or God, and reflects her desire to return to that Sacred Space within. Using gold and silver leaf from Old Delhi, her abstract works on paper resulted in an intensification of earlier consideration, her hunger for transcendence realised through the contemplation of landscape and of the cosmos.

Pierce was Regional Arts Officer, Fermanagh District Council from 1982-86 and in the following years was a guest artist at the Museum of Modern Art, Edinburgh; guest lecturer at Edinburgh University; Arts Officer, Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh and part-time lecturer in Fine Art, Painting, NCAD Dublin and at DLCADT, Dun Laoighaire before becoming Education Officer at the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin.

Since 2015, Pierce has returned to her fist love, that of watercolour painting. Her most recent series is called Uisce Anam, Irish Gaelic for Soul Water. This is a creative response to daily swimming in the Annaghmakerrig Lake in Co. Monaghan, beside her home. She has won numerous awards, including three from Culture Ireland (2007/10/14), Banff Residency Award Canada (2010), Sanskritti Foundation New Delhi (2003), Fundaction Valpairiso Spain (2002) and has achieved the major award of being an elected member of Aosdána for her lifetime achievement in Ireland. She exhibits in many galleries throughout Ireland, her main gallery being the Taylor Galleries in Dublin. She also exhibits in galleries in the USA, UK, Portugal and India.