Jane has trained in portraiture for several years at The Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea, and at City Lit, where she took the ‘Year of the Figure and Portrait’ programme. She regularly paints models from life and takes portrait commissions.
She first began painting whilst teaching English in Japan, learning the delicate art of Sumi-e (Japanese Ink Painting) with a Master of the Art in Yokohama. She has exhibited her work in Japan, The Netherlands and the UK and her work is held in private collections in the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Painting from life at The Heatherley School of Fine Art in Chelsea
Jane painted nine free oil portraits for NHS workers over the Covid lockdown. Her portrait of three NHS nurses in London, was included in artist, Tom Croft’s book ‘Portraits for NHS Heroes’, published by Bloomsbury
Jane’s oil portrait of three London NHS nurses (above) selected for Tom Croft’s book, (below)
Artist Statement
‘I started my formal training with Sumi-e, traditional Japanese black ink painting, whilst teaching in Japan. Linked to the Zen philosophy, Sumi-e is a meditational process, where one concentrates entirely on the present, and aims to capture the essence of the subject. Simplicity, purity and space are important within the composition of the painting. My first practice of this style was a revelation. I sat on a cushion at a low table on a tatami matted floor painting images of bamboo and hydrangea. The only sound came from snow falling softly outside the window and our sable brushes as they swept across the washi paper. These elements have remained with me in my current work.
From Japan, I moved to The Netherlands, where I concentrated on the study of still life flower painting at the de Werkschuit art school in Gouda, drawing inspiration from the Keukenhof tulip gardens and from such Dutch painters as Rachel van Ruysch, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh and the genre painting of the Dutch Golden Age.
I enjoy painting oil portraits from life and working plein air, when possible, or simply near to the sound of nature and silence. I am compelled to record vignettes of my world: family, friends and travels, and to explore colour and the effects of light and reflected light on the form.
At one of my Sumi-e painting exhibitions in Yokohama, Japan
Summer plein air with oils in the UK
Plein air sketching with oil pastels in Grindelwald, Switzerland
Find me on instagram: