The artwork and legacy of Jill Walker
A selection of oil paintings, watercolours and designs by the artist.
A selection of oil paintings, watercolours and designs by the artist.
Jill Walker (née Crockford) was an English born artist who made Barbados her home from the 1950s until her death at the age of 94 in 2021. She painted prolifically, demonstrating an extraordinary versatility, her name becoming synonymous with Barbados. Jill was maybe best known for her paintings of Barbadian scenes painted using ‘pen and wash’ in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. She felt this method helped her capture the amazing detail of the traditional Barbadian architecture she loved.
With sound professional training, including London’s Royal Academy School of Drawing and Painting, she worked initially in London theatres on scenery and costume. Determined to leave post-war Britain, she borrowed money from her father for a one-way ticket on a freighter to South America to visit a friend. Travelling simply with an atlas under one arm and her paints under the other, she set off to make her fortune. Happily, on her very first night, she met a handsome young Scotsman, architect Jimmy Walker. They were married soon after in Barbados in July 1956, settling there in 1960 when Jimmy’s architectural firm, Robertson Ward Associates, won the contract to build the Sandy Lane hotel, golf course and estate. It was a happy time as together they raised their young family.
In 1975 Jimmy retired from architecture and, with a vision to create and sell gifts made or designed in Barbados, they established the successful art and craft gift shops, Best of Barbados, to give talented Barbadians an outlet in which to sell their work and for Jill’s creative designs. In 2000, Jill was very proud to receive the Barbados Centennial Honour and in 2016 the Barbados Jubilee Honour for her contribution to business and art. Her legacy will live on in her many paintings and drawings and in the books and documentary about her life.
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