Jane Watts

Nestled onto a beautiful rustic property in Quindalup is where you will find my home and studio. I love to lead a quiet and simple life and living in this rural space allows me to do so.

I work part-time as an artist, dividing the rest of my time between my ‘day’ job at a local school, my painting practice and my ultimate weakness, op shopping! Discoveries from my weekly indulgence often find their ‘fifteen minutes of fame’ in my paintings, they might be representational or evoked through the feel of a weathered old book cover or an old satin edged woollen blanket.

I find it essential to create and painting is my chosen medium. In the past I have danced between two distinct styles; still life and semi-abstract. My semi abstract work is often loose, unstructured and disobedient but always process led. The canvas may express grids of colour and juxtaposing elements; representational objects meet abstract marks, spontaneous scribbles meet clean text and loose marks meet considered brushstrokes, all summoning up a rich narrative. The finished work takes time to come to the surface.

In contrast, my still life works are considered deliberate, ordered and decisive. I am drawn to the visual contrast of stripes, unusual perspectives and the unexpected combination of everyday objects.