Jane Davies is a full-time artist working in collage, painting and encaustic.
Jane Davies is recognized nationally for her amazing talent and we are thrilled to be able to publish her art as in-stock prints and Print on Demand. Beginning as a potter in the early nineties, selling her colorful hand-painted ceramics at craft shows, Jane gradually transitioned into freelance art, designing tableware, fabric, paper goods, stationery, and other products, using painting and collage as her medium. For the past several years, Davies has put most of her efforts towards teaching, writing, and making art.
Q&A with Jane Davies
What’s your favorite thing about being an artist?
Having the freedom to explore my own visual musings is one of my favorite things, but that combined with teaching is the most rewarding part of it. The teaching/painting combination is symbiotic for me: painting fuels the teaching (I naturally want to share my enthusiasms), and teaching fuels the painting in that it pushes me to explore further. All that dialogue with students and other artists makes me think of my work, and the whole endeavor of making art, in a broader context, and also suggests possibilities I wouldn’t necessarily come up with on my own.
Where do you go to find inspiration?
See above. I don’t feel like I have to GO anywhere other than to my studio, but often looking at other artists’ work, in a gallery (preferably) or online, is immensely inspiring. I tend to be inspired by formal elements – line, shape, color, etc. – rather than Things Out In The World. It is in retrospect that I make connections between the images I create and the world beyond the images.
Is there someone or some place that played a major role in your development as an artist?
I think my friend Gloria Barrett, who lives in La Have, Nova Scotia, has probably been my strongest muse. She has been a family friend since I was a child, and has had a wild ride of a life as an artist and world traveler. I still visit whenever I can. Having grown up in Halifax, the Nova Scotia landscape and coastline are embedded in my psyche: tides, currents, waterlines, the light, colors, shapes of the rocks and ocean.
Is There a Place You’ve Always Wanted to Visit But Haven’t Had the Chance to Yet?
It’s a long list, but I am REALLY grateful that I am able to travel to teach workshops. I’ve been able to get to many places I’ve dreamed of for years: Orcas Island and Whidbey Island, Santa Fe, Sedona, Asheville, the lakes region of northern Wisconsin…But, for a non-teaching trip I would like to go back to Newfoundland and explore Gross Mourne National Park and more. That, though, is the tip of the iceberg, as it were.
What’s One of Your Favorite Hobbies When You Are Taken a Break From Working On a Piece of Art?
I don’t know if I would call them hobbies, but I enjoy a regular yoga practice, and various outdoor activities: hiking, biking, and when we have snow, snow shoeing and cross country skiing. I also swim in every lap pool that crosses my path (there is not a convenient pool near me, so when I travel, I sneak in a swim). My real hobby, as in something I do for relaxation and not exercise, is playing the ukulele!
