Jan’s paintings in water media are an expression of her great love of life in general and animals & places in particular.  As a child, she frequented art shows and art group meetings with her mother who was also an artist and a constant source of encouragement.  Jan’s passion for color & design led her to Virginia Commonwealth University where she received a Fine Arts degree in Interior Design.

Having worked in the field of Interior Design and various other forms of art and design for over 30 years, Jan began searching for new ways to express her creativity.  The first few years she spent painting with acrylics in a self-taught manner, but soon realized there was much to learn from associations with other artists.  In 2006, she joined the Artists of Windmore, a division of the Windmore Foundation for the Arts, based in Culpeper, VA and began taking classes, attending workshops and trying new media and techniques.

Jan’s early paintings included commissioned acrylic portraits of animals, focusing on their eyes as a means to capture their individual personalities.  An extensive private collection of nearly 30 of her animal portraits is located near Asheville, NC.  She has painted many other animal portraits for private collections, including two detection dogs trained at the ATF Canine Training Center in Front Royal, VA & certified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Three years ago, Jan took a group pastel workshop as well as some private pastel painting lessons.  She came away from these experiences with the incredible sense that she had “found her medium”.  As a result of this revelation, she began painting primarily pastel landscapes and animal portraits which have been publicly well-received.  Jan finds the color intensity of pastels and the technique of layered applications of color both intriguing and challenging.

Jan and her husband, Ricky, live at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Castleton, VA in their dream home they built 5 years ago.

Jan’s work is currently on display at Gallery 251 in Warrenton, VA.   Many of the paintings displayed on this website are for sale & Jan is available to do commissioned work as well.  Click here to contact Jan.