Joe placed his stamp on life
Joseph Bernard James, a patriot who left his mark in the various works of art he produced, was laid to rest following a thanksgiving service held at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Discovery Bay, St Ann, on Friday.
Claude Braithwaite, a nephew of the octogenarian who was fondly called ‘Joe’ described him as a “visionary, an entertainer, a patriot, an historian, an entrepreneur, a story teller, and a man with a deep passion for art”.
Born on October 22, 1936, Joe died on May 26.
“Joe went to England for a time but returned to Jamaica because [as he said], ‘this is where I was born and this is where I will stay’,” Braithwaite said.
LOVE FOR ART
He said his uncle, who fell in love with art at age 13, returned to Jamaica in 1966 and decided to transform an old wharf on Rio Bueno, Trelawny.
“People called him crazy, but the entrepreneur in him set to work. Today we have an art gallery, a restaurant and a hotel. Joe told his stories in art and in his everlasting conversations,” Braithwaite said.
Ted Williams, a representative of Western Jamaica Fine Arts Association, said “Joe loved life, loved art, and painted a variety of scenes in his work”.
“He was full of humour, and loved everybody with an open heart,” Williams said at the celebration.
The Reverend Father Aloyce Komu, in his homily, said “Joe loved God and encouraged others not to desert Him”.
God’s people featured in his art. He loved art and was passionate about it,” Komu said.
“If you went there [the art gallery] early, you would be served a breakfast of mackerel and run down, accompanied with one story after another. You had to have time because his stories, accompanied with booming laughter, went on and on.”
Joe, who fathered 10 children, was buried in the historic cemetery by the sea in Rio Bueno.