Lee Anne “Lee” Ghilain stands beside her work in Dreams Without Borders II at D Contemporary in London, October 2026. Photo courtesy of Sonia Borrell.
Texas Border Business
SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas – In 1954, Captain Jim and Jan Ghilain opened Jim’s Pier on South Padre Island, helping establish the fishing and hospitality traditions that would draw generations of visitors to the Island.
Their son Danny and his wife, Lee Anne “Lee” Ghilain, took over in 1980, carrying forward the business Jim and Jan had built. Their years in the fishing-charter and restaurant businesses, including Amberjacks Bayside Restaurant, became another chapter in the family’s Island history.
Today, Ghilain carries memories of that waterfront life into her paintings—work now being exhibited at D Contemporary in London.
For the Bayview-based artist, the distance between a fishing pier and an international gallery is connected by a familiar theme: home.
“Home isn’t something I found. It’s something I learned to carry within me,” Ghilain says.
Ghilain spent her early formative years in Aransas Pass, where she was raised by her Cherokee grandmother, before moving to Brownsville in seventh grade. From then on, she spent every free moment she could on South Padre Island.
A Cherokee Nation citizen, she creates abstract acrylic and mixed-media paintings shaped by faith, memory and the natural world. The waters and changing light of the Texas Gulf Coast remain among her influences, alongside years in Mexico, ten years living in Dripping Springs and travels through the American Southwest.
Her paintings develop through layers of color, marks and texture. Prayers and personal reflections often lie beneath the finished surface.
The family’s hospitality tradition continues through daughters Jenna Ghilain and Briana Ghilain-Scanlan, who opened Nautico Island Grill on South Padre Island in 2023.
At 70, Ghilain continues to develop her art while adapting to vision loss caused by macular degeneration.
“I paint to remember how to see,” she says.
Since obtaining her Cherokee Nation citizenship, Ghilain has had paintings included each year in both the Trail of Tears Art Show and the Cherokee Homecoming Art Show. Eight of her paintings are held in the Cherokee Nation’s permanent collection, purchased through the Cherokee Artist Recovery Act, an initiative created to help Cherokee artists recover from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her work appears in Dreams Without Borders II, a group exhibition of ten international artists curated by Sonia Borrell and presented with Studio to Gallery. The exhibition runs October 9–23, 2026, at D Contemporary in London.
Following the exhibition, her paintings will remain with the gallery on consignment for up to twelve months. Artwork inquiries may be directed to Irene Pouliassi at irene@dcontemporary.com.
From the business Jim and Jan began in 1954 to the paintings Ghilain now shares overseas, the family’s connection to South Padre Island remains part of the story.
Exhibition information
https://www.dcontemporary.com/dreamswithoutbordersii
