Shani Rhys James was born in 1953 in Melbourne, Australia, the daughter of a Welsh father and an Australian mother and came to the UK as a child. At six years old Rhys James was ill with thrombocytopenia. She describes this time spent out of school as being significant for allowing her time to play and enter a state of child-like games and develop her imagination during these important early years. Growing up in Australia during her early years was by her own admission a particular contributing factor from her childhood to her decision to make art a career. Her mother told her not to go to art school as the best artists she knew didn't attend. She was however encouraged by staying with Charles Blackman as well as having artist friends during childhood. Theatre was also a large influence as Rhys James's mother was an actress. Constant production of scenery, props and theatre costumes as well as rehearsal of parts all formed part of the environment that surrounded her during childhood. Early education took place in Eltham, Australia from 5 to 9 years of age then Parliament Hill Girls School, London.
Education and career
Rhys James studied at Loughborough College of Art and Design and in 1976 obtained a degree in Fine Art at Saint Martin's School of Art, in London. She later moved to Powys to live and work, taking her young family with her. Rhys James is known particularly for her melancholy self-portraits. Her 1993 Studio with Gloves shows her sitting in her studio. When she is not painting herself she generally paints other women, still lifes, domestic scenes or "riotously spiky and rip-roaring" vases of flowers. Art critic Michael Glover says "There's something mad, wild and thuggish about this work, such is its total lack of restraint. It seems to be gulping at colour... She lathers and slathers on the paint with a kind of unrestrained glee. No wonder the eyes of the model are always slightly bulbous with a kind of childish wonderment". Prints, studies in charcoal and ink are also produced by Rhys James as well as painting. Rhys James has been elected to the Royal Cambrian Academy of Art and the 56 Group Wales. In 2011 the artist and entertainer, Rolf Harris, included Rhys James in a BBC TV series on 'great' Welsh artists. She was the only living artist included. Harris painted a self-portrait in the style of Rhys James, using a small hand mirror and looking at his face 'as a landscape'. Rhys James has exhibited across Europe, also in the USA, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia. She is represented by the Martin Tinney Gallery, Cardiff.
Solo exhibitions
Listed by BBC Wales Arts webpage unless otherwise stated.
1992 – Beaux Arts, Bath
1993 – Blood Ties, Wrexham Library Arts Centre, touring exhibition
Rhys James is married to artist Stephen West and has two children. Though she is widely viewed as Welsh she is an Australian passport holder and describes herself as a "mongrel Celt". She has bought a second home in Charente, France, where she spends a lot of time.
