CAL Community Exhibits Program & The Lighthouse

I am a part of the Columbia Art League’s Community Exhibits Program. It provides artwork to all types of public and private business locations. Artists exhibit their artwork at businesses throughout the community. Artists rotate their work every three months among the participating businesses. I enjoy being a part of this program because I am able to reach people that otherwise might not see my work.

Today, I switched my pictures from the Columbia Mall to Waddell & Reed at 4200 East Southampton Drive. This is the first time for them to participate in the program, and they were all very excited to see what I brought. My pictures will be there for three months.

They requested four pictures to be hung, so I brought three of my most popular ones and one newer picture. The newer picture is of Presque Isle Lighthouse in Erie, PA.

Jim and I were traveling along the Great Lakes on our way home from visiting friends in New Hampshire. I had found this lighthouse listed on the map, but once we got there we couldn’t find it. It was a cold windy fall day and the sand along the lake shore was blowing into our eyes and against our skin. (As we walked along, I picked up several flat smooth stones to remember the day and kept sticking them in Jim’s pockets.) We were about to give up on finding it and discovered we were right in front of it. It was over-grown with trees and is now a private home. We had walked by it twice.

MU Alumni Association calendar contest

Right now I am going through my pictures that I have taken this year on the Missouri University campus. This will be my third year in a row to enter the Mizzou Alumni Association calendar contest. The first year, I had one small runner-up picture in the calendar and in the 2008 calendar I have three pictures: April, October, and December. (The columms pictured below is the October picture.) I, also, had two pictures published in Missouri University Alumni Association Sesquicentennial Gala Program, September 2006.

Here are some of the pictures that I’m considering for the 2009 calendar. Which ones should I enter?

Process of creating my art

All of my digital art work is based on my digital photographs; editing and designing are done on the computer.

Using filters, I add artistic edge effects on one (or several) of the layers of my digital art work and arrange them to add movement to the picture. It is like using a pencil to sketch. I then take a second copy of the photo and paint it. When I paint a picture by hand, I usually do it on the computer. I have a Wacom tablet and an electronic pen that are connected to my computer. As I move the pen across the tablet, I am painting on a layer above the photograph. I can paint with oils, watercolor, chalk, pencil, and other tools.

Finally, I blend the painted pixels with the upper and underlying layers. On some of my pictures, I use as many as nine or more layers. Each layer is carefully arranged to the correct position before the art work is finished.

Many of my photographs are not sketched or painted. They are best left just as they were as I snapped the picture. I have marked them as "photograph," while the others are labeled "digital art."

In my digital darkroom, I can adjust the brightness and contrast as well as the saturation of the color just as film photographers do in a darkroom. I use at least two different computer programs with my pictures.

Jan grew up on a wheat farm

I grew up on a wheat farm in Kansas. The first camera I remember using is my mother’s black box camera. As I grew up, cameras were in essence the same--never enough film and days of waiting to see the results.

College (the first time) was interrupted with my dream of marriage and three children. College (the second time) was centered on a special education teaching degree to supply extra income to pay for college expenses for our children. My degree of Master of Education was in Information Science and Educational Technologies. I taught Learning Disabilities for over 25 years as well as teaching technology skills to teachers, parents, and students. Through these years, I was developing my art skills but only for my own enjoyment.

After retirement, my husband and I decided to remain in Missouri where we had lived the last 35 years. We moved to Columbia, Missouri, to be close to our children and grandchildren. Our lives now embrace fine art with Jim’s poetry writing and my photography.

Learning New Skills

I have always had a desire to learn new skills. Each year I make lists of items that I want to know more about and talents that I want to develop. Sometimes I am fascinated by my studies, and other times I just learn that that particular thing isn’t as interesting as I thought. (The summer that I decided to learn to repair antique watches is an example of something that wasn’t for me.)

Some of my favorite studies in the 80’s were the watercolor workshops I attended. Living in an area without a large library, I requested watercolor books through the lending libraries.

For several summers in the 90’s, Jim and I would travel to Denver University where he would take classes and I would sketch the buildings and flowers on the campus.

Developing technology skills is an area in which I have been interested for many years and will always be a major interest. Not only can I communicate, share, and learn with others around the world; but technology allows me to learn in ways that were not available a few years ago.

I used digital photography and web design in the classroom for years to develop activities and lessons. Working with learning disabled students, I felt a need to create new methods to help them learn--or, present old methods in a new way. Digital photography is one tool that was used often.

Fine art photography and technology go hand-in-hand. What a wonderful transition after all of these years of experience with low resolution digital photography and web design. New camera, high resolution pictures, and large format printer-- I am ready to go!

It is time to share...

There is so much that I want to share, and I hope this blog will give you some information about my feelings and my work.