DPW Spotlight Interview: Jane Frederick

Each week we will spotlight a different DPW artist who will give away one of their best paintings.

To enter to win Jane's painting, "Coneflowers" go to Daily Paintworks and click on the link at the top of the page announcing their interview.

From Jane's DPW Gallery:

Art was originally a form of therapy for me. I began making art to escape the crazy life of a stressed out advertising sales rep. Painting allowed me to go to my "happy place" and lose track of my worries and responsibilities for a while. As I progressed in painting, I found it infinitely challenging. No matter the current skill level, there is always so much more to learn. Although I have no formal art training, I have taken numerous workshops from artists including: Qiang Huang, Nancy Tankersley, Stephanie Birdsall, John Cosby, Randall Sexton, Chuck Rawle, Charles Gruppé, Derek Penix, Denise Mahlke, Joshua Been, Ron Rencher, and a slew of others. I’m very much looking forward to a workshop with Carol Marine later this year.

Tell us a bit about how you first started painting.

I was always interested in art but didn’t get serious until a friend bought me an oil painting lesson (although at the time I was more interested in watercolors). By the time I took the class, I had enough money invested in supplies that I felt I had to continue, at least until I used up those supplies. It just mushroomed from there.

Did you have any stops and starts in your painting career?

Not really, once I joined DPW in late 2011, I have been painting pretty steadily.  DPW was really the turning point for me. As paintings started selling it encouraged me to paint even more. While I’d like to say I paint every day, I’m afraid that would be stretching the truth, but I do paint a lot.

Coneflowers
(click to view)

Enter to win by clicking on the link at the top of the DPW home page announcing Jane's interview.

What mediums and genres have you experimented with?

I’ve always wanted to be a realistic or impressionistic painter. I’ve tried watercolor, pastels (both oil and soft), acrylics, colored pencils, and oils.

Which ones have “stuck” and which ones have fallen away?

I really love to work in oils best, but I still like to keep my hand in soft pastels as well. I mostly use watercolors for my travel journal.

Enchanted Rocks
(click to view)

Which ones are you looking forward to exploring?

I’m not really thinking about expanding my media right now, I’m more focused on mastering oils and to a lesser extent pastels.

Who or what inspires you most?

Nature inspires me and I am always striving to interpret it on the canvas. As far as inspirational artists, I’ve been inspired by so many. The crop of current artists working is amazing. I’m a big fan of Qiang Huang, Joshua Been, Haidee Jo Summers, John Cosby, Stephanie Birdsall, Carol Marine and way too many others to mention... Vincent Van Gogh is also one of my heroes, he painted constantly through all his adversities.

Grackle Stare
(click to view)

What does procrastination look like for you?

When I find myself piddling around the studio doing unnecessary busy work, I know it’s time to buckle down and paint something.

What techniques work to ensure that you make time for your art?

When I figure it out I’ll let you know. Time is always my biggest battle. I’ve got so many varied interests and I seem to have a problem saying “No” so I’m always busy.

Butterfly
(click to view)

How do you generally arrive at ideas for your paintings?

I keep a camera in my lap when we travel (if I’m not doing the driving) so I’m shooting photos of anything that looks interesting. I go out on plein air paint outs with other artists and take lots of photos. I’m always trying to find interesting things to paint in everyday scenes no matter where I am.
How do you keep art fresh? What techniques have helped you avoid burnout and keep your work vibrant and engaging?

I try new subjects and attend as many workshops as I can. I follow a lot of artist blogs, and read as much as I can about techniques and new approaches. I never seem to get tired of painting, so I don’t think burnout is a problem for me. I feel that the pursuit of art is an endless one. I will never be as good as I want to be, it is always a challenge and I thrive on challenge.

Duck Dating
(click to view)

What do you feel you are learning about right now as an artist?

I feel that I’m still exploring everything, but if I can glean one new concept out of each workshop I take, I feel I’m succeeding. Right now I’m trying really hard now to work on lost and found edges and abstracting the background.  So many people say they can’t even draw a stick figure, it’s not true. Anyone can become an artist. Like anything else, to get good at art or anything else, you must practice, practice, practice.

What makes you happiest about your art?

I really love when I can see progress in my work. Especially on those rare occasions when I feel I really nailed a painting. It’s even better when someone else likes it and buys it.

Thanks, Jane!

© 2017 Sophie Marine