The History
Clips from Gary Grayson's article "Behind the Silk Screen" -Virgin Islander, 1980
"When I do something, it has to please me aesthetically, although I do admit that most of the time I'm skittering on the edge of bad taste because most people have bad taste. You know we're all born with bad taste. It takes time, a lot of time, and intelligence, to acquite good taste." -Jim Tillett
"George Tillett, Jim's Father, had been a photographer in the First World War, but came to post war New York to set up a photographic studio. [He] was to become an outstanding pioneer in [the silkscreen craft]. The Tillett Family left New York during the depression and went to Toronto, two years later retunring to London where they joined with family resources to create a silk screening business uniquely their own."
"The need to see the world swept JIm away from England in 1938 and he traveled to the South Pacific." He visited Bora Bora, Riates, and many of the smaller island before settling in Tahiti.
"The most beautiful two years of my life. I made a living selling paddle boards. I didn't need much. Ten dollars a month was plenty. I speared my own fish and my girl collected fruit in the valley. We lived on the beach with no electricity-no noise except the surf pounding on the reef. No refridgerater, no radio, no alarm clock, no commutting. But for the war I might still be there, surrounded by 27 grandchildren. As events turned out, I wound up in Mexico in 1941 where I lived and worked for the next 18 years." -Jim Tillett
Fast forward through 18 years of silk screen production in Mexico, going to New York and marrying Rhoda, planning to go to Vietnam to set up a silk screen factory, plans change, switch to Puerto Rico, where a friend said to come to St. Thomas.
"Everett Birch, the lawyer who handled the lease work for our incorporation had a piece of property out in the country at Tutu, but he wasn't sure we would want it. The buidlings were in terrible shape but nevertheless it fitted my description of what I was looking for-lond buildings, cow sheds, barns-so I convinced him to show it to us. It looked hopeless. Roofs fallen in, no plumbing, no electricity, decay everywhere, but it was cheap and he could arrange the financing on a level we could afford. By that time Rhoda was wondering if she had married a madman but I could see it already in my mind's eye as a flourishing printworks with a gallery and boutique. Rhoda did not know then that she was destined to become a shop manager and a dress designer par excellence."
For the next 35 years Jim and Rhoda Tillett lived and worked in Tillett Gardens. Jim created unique Tillett fabrics, maps, and "wall decor" artwork. The garden became a thriving community of local and traveling artists and travelers. The building on the property housed multiple artists of different medium, and a restaurant opened up in the center. Rhoda Tillett operated the dress shop where she designed Resortwear made from Tillett Fabric. Tillett Gardens was "THE" place to be.