Jane is self-taught, painting with various groups and teachers in London and online for three years. She laughs that her own paintings are the toughest teachers. "Painting is just correcting your mistakes," she says.
She works in oil - mixing paint and pastel - and aims to share her personal response to whatever she is looking at. Colour is always foremost.
She shows work at Sprout Arts Gallery where she had her first solo show in April 2019, painting in the gallery, inviting local people to sit for portraits. Her main influence is Alan Hepburn, a living painter and award-winning watercolorist whose work Jane has collected for many years. "If I can capture the shifting light that is possible in a watercolour, but in my vivid oils, I'm ecstatic," she says.
A little bit more about Jane:
Jane was born in the Ruahine Ranges, a mountainous range near Palmerston North, New Zealand. Her father was a shepherd and her mother a nurse before her marriage. Both grew up in Wanganui, where they returned when Jane was 8 years old, her father going on to become a successful businessman. She drew prolifically and wishes now she'd known then that Picasso began with doodles. It was second nature for Jane, but sadly, her art was not encouraged despite an early competition win with the Whanganui Art Gallery. It would be more than 30 years before Jane would get the opportunity she needed, opening a studio in Furzedown, South London. In the meanwhile, Jane's image creation was well-rewarded in a career as a public relations consultant, beginning with the Financial Times in 1987 and completing in 1999 as MD of a financial PR practice. She became an executive coach in the City after the birth of her daughter in 2000. In 2017, Jane finally began to paint, having drawn over the years, but being increasingly bewitched by the prospect of rendering what she saw in colour.
Contact
London SW17 9QF, UK
