Jan's profile
I am an emerging acrylic/mixed media abstract painter. I was honored to win First Place in the Howard County Open 2025, Covington Emerging Artist Award on 1/17/25.
I entered painting in 2022 due to boredom and loneliness after moving to Maryland during the pandemic. I signed up for a 12-week online painting class and discovered a needed path to interact with myself as I didn't know anyone being new to the area. Within the painting experience, I discovered I could create my own adventure! Art surprised me - becoming the antidote to my rewarding but one-sided role as a sex and couple's psychotherapist. Within painting, I can return to self after hours of living in other people's worlds.
I am an intuitive painter and begin through play leaning into impulse and curiosity. It’s a welcomed relief to not think or plan. I react to what I put down and wait for the marks to lead me to my next decision. Colors are often chosen because they are leftover on a palette from a prior piece and at other times, I select the colors based on my mood. I like utilizing limitations to make decisions with less analysis and more flow and even impulse. Use of subtraction allows me to create the texture I like; and often creates interesting colors with leftover paint shining through. Organic spheres and geometric shapes often enter my work. I am challenging myself by attempting to paint with more painterly marks and better use of color transitions. I like the use of mixed media to get more complexity in a piece. I often will use pastels, crayons, and pencils to make additional extensions of color and line. The use of differences at each juncture adds more complexity and intrigue. I seek to be enveloped as I create and to evoke sensory experiences for others in my art.
Avoiding the predictable is my passion. I hate feeling bored. I’ve found that discovering the unexpected shape, line, or color combo surprises and delights, bringing adventure to my day-to-day living. I share my art with others to offer them a few seconds of novelty, envelopment, and surprise- a break from the everyday.
