Jan is a Cardiff based artist, currently occupying a studio at Kings Road Studios, Pontcanna.

 

'My current work is an exploration into the architectural space of my studio in Cardiff. Working from direct observation I paint spontaneously onto board , dynamically integrating the formal values of representational painting with those of abstraction.

Pared down compositions are rendered with subtle areas of light and shade, often including shadows and shafts of sunlight permeating through unseen windows.

My choice of a neutral palette helps me focus on the effect of light in the paintings, while evoking an atmosphere of calm that encourages contemplation.'

 

Below is Jan's entry to our 100:Postcards project, and below that is Jan's entry to our 100:T-shirts project

22

'Cardiff Bay'

watercolour on mount board

 

"For this project I chose to depict a corner of a bench that faces one of the old docks. Behind the bench on the old dock wall is a ship’s mooring ring, a reminder of the location’s sea faring past.
It was on this bench 5 years ago that I met an old sailor called John who told me that, as a boy, he had longed for a career at sea. He told me how he had walked from his home in London to the docks in Liverpool because he had heard that there was a trainee deckhand’s job available. Sleeping in coal sheds and barns on the way his journey took several days. Unfortunately when he arrived at Liverpool the job had already been taken, but was told to make his way to Cardiff docks where deckhand jobs were available.
John then walked all the way from Liverpool to Cardiff and this time he was lucky and secured a job.
He eventually made Cardiff his home, married, raised a family and continued to work all his life on board ships travelling the world until he retired.
The two little ducks in the foreground of the painting (number 22) reference the wide variety of wildfowl that swim in the newly created freshwater lake in Cardiff Bay. Ducks are frequently seen on the boardwalks there and have happily integrated their habitat to fit into the new developments.

Ducks symbolise transition due to their migratory nature and are a great example to us on how to manoeuvre through the waters of life with grace. Ducks are also a Celtic symbol of honesty, simplicity and resourcefulness. They have a strong sense of community and are very social beings. Ideals I feel that are very important to the success of the regeneration of any community. "

 

 

7

 

"The painting is an immediate response to the interior architectural space of my studio. In this empty pared down, simplified space I have integrated dynamically two opposites. On one hand I render the illusion of depth, with references to all things historical and cultural and on the other hand I emphasize the flatness of the surface with an aestheticbased on clarity of logic and concept. I enjoy the tension that this combination creates, challenging the viewer's perception of the space.

My practice is inspired by the book 'The Poetics of Space' by the French Phenomenologist Gaston Bachelard which focuses on the way we experience intimateplaces, and how our perceptions of houses and other shelters shape our thoughts, memories and dreams.

The number seven is one of the most significant numbers in science, mathematics, literature, the classical world, as well as in the Holy Bible. In the painting the seven steps of the stairway at the heart of the design act as a symbolic reference to the stairway to Heaven as well as a metaphor for the seven days of the Creation."