Jacqueline Brice
Painter
1935 - Present
Inducted in 2012
Biography
Jackie Brice, a native Floridian, has been painting since 1967. In her forty-five year career as an artist, Brice who lives in Jupiter has focused on painting rivers, back country and wetlands of the state she loves. Brice's paintings capture the ethereal landscapes of Florida, preserving our states natural beauty with a rare blend of artistry and accuracy. She studied for eleven years with her mentor and friend, A.E. Backus of Fort Pierce. Prior to her work with Backus, Brice studied for ten years with Vela Boss of Miami.
Brice has gained an impressive and loyal following and has earned numerous accolades. Her collectors are a who's who of Florida, the United States and the world. Jackie Brice is very active in her community, teaching, volunteering and helping in many ways to preserve this great state. Believing strongly that the greatest teaching tool for a landscape artist is painting outdoors, she has used this practice to capture the essence of Florida.
Some of these include The White House, The Florida House in Washington, DC, Senator and Mrs. Bob Graham, Florida CFO Jeff Atwater, Congressman E. Clay Shaw, Oscar Berger-President of Guatemala, Golfer Greg Norman, Actor Burt Reynolds, Barry University in Miami, US Sugar Corporation, Coconut Grove Bank, Allen Morris Corporation, Town of Jupiter, Palm Beach County, Municipality of Juno Beach, Hav-a-Tampa/Phillies Corporation, Bascom-Palmer Eye Institute of the Palm Beaches and Miami, Jupiter Medical Center, Hill/York Corporation, Barnett Banks, Community Savings, Co-Mercia and Michael B. Smith of Coral Gables.
Brice has been invited to speak in many cities, including Jacksonville, Vero Beach, Denver, Colorado and Los Angeles, California. Her portfolio has been accepted into the archives of The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington D.C. The Martin County Council for the Arts invited Brice to write the text on the "Backus Colors" for the book A.E. "Bean" Backus – The Backus School, published in 2002. In 2004, Brice was asked by the Board of Directors of the A.E. Backus Museum and Gallery in Ft. Pierce, Florida, to reproduce a Backus painting titled "A New Day Dawning" as a mural on an outside wall of the museum. The Southern Bell Telephone Company of Florida chose Brice's painting of the Cor Jesu Chapel at Barry University for the cover of the 1990 Miami, Florida telephone directory. To celebrate the seventy-fifth birthday of the Town of Jupiter, Brice's painting " Loxahatchee River" was selected for the cover of the second printing of The Loxahatchee Lament. In 2002, Brice was selected as one of five artists to design a Christmas ornament for the official White House Christmas tree. Several of Brice's works were included in the book "Haunted River Stories" by Patrick S. Mesmer, Secretary of the Loxahatchee Battlefield Preservationists. Brice's "Loxahatchee River" was used as the cover of " Florida, A History Catalog" by Joe Rubinfine, authority in American Historical Autographs and Documents. In 2008, for the opening of the newly reconstructed Historical 1916 Palm Beach County Courthouse, the county requested an oil painting of the original courthouse which hangs in the new Historical Museum. Jackie Brice is very active in her community, teaching, volunteering and helping in many ways to preserve this great state. She is active in the local schools, gives scholarships to students who need help with college and gives ten percent of her earnings to charities and people in need.
Believing strongly that the greatest teaching tool for a landscape artist is painting outdoors, she has used this practice to capture the essence of Florida. Brice traveled to the Loire Valley in France to study and paint the landscape of the countryside. "My desire is to accomplish not only a true landscape, but a feeling. When someone views a scene on my canvas, I want them to be able to place themselves there. My hope is that those who look at my work will see an accurate portrayal of Florida."
Brice's landscapes, painted with attention to accuracy and detail, strike a chord with viewers. She has been invited to exhibit in the prestigious invitation-only show at the Riviera Country Club in Coral Gables, Florida. She has also been invited to do a solo exhibit in The Richard B. Russell Building in Washington DC, The Hart Senate Building in Washington DC, The State Capitol Building in Tallahassee, The Thrasher-Horne Center for the Arts in Orange Park, The Lighthouse Center for the Arts in Tequesta, The Governmental Center in West Palm Beach, The Loxahatchee Historical Museum in Jupiter, Ann Norton Sculptural Gardens in West Palm Beach, Courthouse Cultural Center Galleries in Stuart, A.E. "Bean" Backus Gallery and Museum in Ft. Pierce, The Governors Club in West Palm Beach, The Museum Of Science in Miami, Northwood University in West Palm Beach and The Rod and Reel Club in Hibiscus Island, Florida.
Brice believes an artist must take the time and make an effort to study ones subject. Because her subject for forty-five years has been Florida, she has been on some wild painting expeditions, including holding onto her easel in high winds, sharing close encounters with alligators and dealing with mercurial Florida weather. In 1997, when Senator Bob Graham invited her to do a solo exhibition in Washington DC, she prepared by spending a year traveling around the state from St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge in north Florida to the Florida Keys, completing 17 paintings. On another trip she visited the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, in search of the ghost orchid, with a group that included Senator Graham and led by a park ranger. They entered the water up to their ankles and ended up in water up to their hips. After a three hour walk, the result was a painting for Senator Graham's Washington office. A documentary about the Loxahatchee River, led a camera crew to follow Brice for two days as she painted on its shores. State biologist and Florida Wildlife officer, Dick Roberts, spoke to the important role her work has played in preserving the river.
"I am driven to paint Florida as it is. I just want it to be real. I believe Florida has a mood of its own, set by the different times of day and the light it produces. From sunrise to sunset, the light softens the horizon or brightens the side of a pine tree with highlights. When I look out my window, I see the light through the trees and burnt sienna. I see the vertical movement of the coconut palms. This is what I see, this is what I paint, and this is what I want to share with others."
