St Ives from the Slipway
St Ives Harbour
St Michael's Mount
Bryan Pearce was born in
1929, an apparently healthy baby, but soon the parents became
concerned: the child barely reacted to his surroundings
and "just stared into space as if he wasn't there." An undiagnosed
and rare congenital condition, phenylketonuria, was retarding his
mental development. Mary and Walter Pearce did their best to give
normalcy and meaning to their son's life--they would be faced with a
similar
tragedy after the birth of their daughter, Margaretta, in 1941.
Bryan was sent to a school for the retarded when he was ten, and upon
his return
home six years later he worked for a time in his father's butcher
shop scrubbing pots and pans. He did these chores meticulously and
with some
satisfaction, though it was a road to nowhere.
One day Mary brought home a child's coloring book and coaxed her twenty-four-year-old son to fill in a page of bold outlines with watercolors. He did the task beautifully, became interested, and this was the beginning of one of the most astonishing adventures in twentieth century painting.
Mary Pearce was herself a talented artist, but her priority lay in the enrichment and elevation of her children's lives and the promotion of Bryan's gift. When doctors gave her son no chance of living a productive life, she refused to accept their opinions as final. Her struggle to do what she felt was best for her son produced the miracle of Bryan Pearce.
Today, Bryan's paintings are displayed in prestigious art galleries and coveted by collectors--he has become a presence in the world of art. Rarely does a book capture the interest of such a diversity of readers: the connoisseur of art, the lover of human drama at its most poignant, the caregiver of children with special needs, and all who delight in the uplifting story of a person prevailing against incredible obstacles.
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