Jill Walker, the British-born artist who adopted Barbados as her home and over several decades stamped her name on her paintings which captured the essence of Barbadian life and traditional architecture, has died.
Walker’s daughter Susan Trew announced her mother’s passing in this Facebook post on Sunday: “We are sad to tell our many friends and customers that Jill Walker passed away peacefully at home yesterday surrounded by her family. She had suffered a fall in June and was being nursed at home in comfort.
“She was 94. She was so much part of all our lives, following with interest everything going on in the shops and with the staff and will be hugely missed. She’s left behind a huge legacy with all her paintings of Barbadian life, her beautiful books and the documentary film about her life and will live in the hearts of Bajans and visitors alike. Truly a “national treasure”.
Commenting on Walker’s published autobiography, Jill Walker’s Barbados, historian Sir Henry Fraser said: “Jimmy and Jill Walker, like their brainchild Best Of Barbados shops, have been household names in Barbados for more than 50 years . . . . It is a story of two like-minded, creative, conscientious, hard-working people who met by chance 4 000 miles from their British homes; who fell in love with . . . Barbados . . . and with loyal teams and loyal family for the good of Barbados.” (GC)
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