Jane Pettit is an artist who creates a new aesthetic out of commonplace, disparate parts. Her art is a unique combination of sculpture, mosaic and collage. Her art form combines three loves: recycling things that otherwise would end up in landfills, getting disparate parts to work together and enlivening everything with lots of color and texture. The resulting fine art springs from a rare imagination as evidenced by the frequent comment: “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Although each piece starts with a vision, it’s an exploration of texture, form and color that evolves in the making. Jane’s art combines traditional mosaic materials with recycled dishes, found objects, shells, stones and paint. During creation, the seductive nature of organizing the raw materials and the drive to express the aesthetic message create a constant tension that is evident in the art.
Jane’s three current interests are breathing life into portraits made of recycled cast-offs, moving from realism to abstraction and creating artistic focal points for the garden.
Throughout the creative process, Jane’s imagination is the stimulus for an aesthetic that fosters new meaning. The synergy of the physical elements adds depth and quality to the character and meaning of each work. The message of the work is universal, having an emotional impact that touches the viewer’s heart and soul.
Jane started out as a self-taught artist and has recently studied with mosaic icon Ilana Shafir and several other renowned artists. The concrete and fiberglass techniques she uses in her outdoor sculpture she learned from one of the leaders in the field, Sherri Warner Hunter.
Recent/Current Exhibits
- River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation Gallery, solo show of portraits and nature, Bethesda, MD, February 2-28, 2011
- Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center: Women’s Caucus on Art Show, Frederick, MD, December, 2010
- Zenith Gallery: Annual Food Calendar Event, Chevy Chase, MD, December 1-31, 2010
- Whitman-Walker Clinic: Art for Life, Washington, DC, October 15-November 12, 2010
- Bucks County Art Gallery: Sculpture Showcase 2010, juried show, New Hope, PA, October 1-30, 2010
- Zenith Gallery: “Trees of Life” group show at Chevy Chase Pavilion, Chevy Chase, MD, April 29- September 7, 2010
- Volt Restaurant and Artique Underground Gallery: “Imagine a Garden” solo show of outdoor sculpture, Frederick, MD, August 1-October 10, 2010
- Rehoboth Art League (where she was awarded the Juror’s Award for Excellence at the 2005 Art Show.), Rehoboth, DE, ongoing
Jane is a participating artist in the Girls Gotta Run Foundation and has been in exhibits in The Phoenix Gallery in NYC, The Sewall-Belmont House-DC, Strathmore Hall-Rockville, MD, Friendship Heights Village Center-Chevy Chase, MD and Politics and Prose-DC.
She has exhibited at many area galleries, including Zenith Gallery-DC and Chevy Chase, MD; Angel Eyes Gallery-Rehoboth, DE; Volt Restaurant and Artique Underground Gallery-Frederick, MD; Bucks County Gallery of Fine Art, New Hope, PA; Edison Place Gallery-DC; Chevy Chase Town Hall- Chevy Chase, MD; Art Romp-DC; Peace Now at The Warehouse Gallery-DC; Art For Life at Whitman-Walker Clinic-DC; Glen Echo Labor Day Shows-Glen Echo, MD; Blanche Ames Gallery juried show-Frederick, MD; The Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton, VA; Art-O-Matic-DC.
She has also exhibited at numerous events in the Washington area, including The St. Albans Holiday House Tour, The Junior League Show, The National Cathedral Flower Mart, Clifton Days, Holton Arms Harvest Festival and the Georgetown Visitation Holiday Show.
Jane does private commissions for Washington area residents and her work is in private collections locally as well as in Rehoboth, DE; Myrtle Beach, SC; Doylestown, PA; Burlington, VT; and Florida.
She teaches classes at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD and in her barn studio in Myersville, MD.
Her love of nature and sense of optimism are evident in her work. "...anything like it."
|
Influences
From a very early age, I started hearing “But those things don’t go together, dear.” I’ve always had a love of pattern-on-pattern and to me, they DO go together. My dad’s art library convinced me I was right. Gustav Klimt’s circles within circles, intersecting patterns, partial body views and bright colors combined with metallic glimmer seemed made just for me. The appeal of James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s women in print-on-print oriental attire with patterned screen backgrounds was the wonderful organization of so much busyness.
Many other great masters have influenced my creative process:
My love of Louis Tiffany’s rich colors, depth and textures has brought glass of all sorts into my work. The appeal of the Art Nouveau style is evident in the organic, curvilinear forms that end up in many of my pieces. The special place in my heart that belongs to John Singer Sargent’s “Breakfast in the Loggia” may be responsible for my love of all things with the patina of age. Those two women used to be my grandmothers, but they are quickly becoming me!
My interest in manipulating different textures and 3D shapes and playing with the resulting forms and shadows has a parallel in the Impressionists’ focus on the play of light rather than exact reproduction of a scene. The artist’s creative interpretation of the scene moves me specifically because it offers something more than what meets the eye.
Two artists whose portraits draw me in are Amedeo Modigliani and Larry Rivers. I love the strength and calm that Modigliani conveys with his mask-faces and long necks. Rivers’ eyes always seem to tell of something more than what’s revealed.
Inspiration also comes from a few favorite modern artists. Alexander Calder’s whimsy and strong, unexpected forms seem the perfect partners for mosaic adornment.
When I learned about Julian Schnabel, I was surprised and pleased to find a famous artist whose work involved broken dishes and paint.
The complexities of Pollack initially turned me off, but as I saw the organizational aspects of his work, I was drawn in. The ordering of disparate parts satisfies a similar desire to put order to the randomness. Pieces by Wasilly Kandinsky and Willem De Koenig have a strength of line, a richness of color and exciting composition that attract me to them.
In recent years as I’ve made mosaic a staple in my art, I have come to know and love the work of Antonio Gaudi and Nikki De Saint Phalle.
|
|