About Jan Slawson
I began my art career as a photographer and participated in black and white & color slide photography competitions in California in the late 1970’s. I used and processed film in my dark room to bring to life fascinating images mostly from my backpacking trips in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
With the new century, I started painting with acrylics and I’ve loved it ever since. Art classes from several well-known desert artists have been important to my art education, as well as classes at the Gage Academy of Art in Seattle, WA. I have shown my collections at numerous Seattle and desert venues and now paint and show in the Palm Springs area.
In the words of the great abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky,
“Of all of the arts, abstract painting is the most difficult. It demands that you know how to draw well, that you have a heightened sensitivity for composition and for colours, and that you be a true poet. This last is essential.”
JAN’S VISION
People have asked me what I am thinking about or what is my plan when I paint – Most times there is not a complete plan. I see things, forms, color, in nature or photos, or shapes and forms. I incorporate those as I work on my canvas.
My vision usually begins with colors that intrigue me for that period of time. In my first years, I mostly painted with red, then blues and greens, but currently I often work with whites, greys, & black. However, the more I paint, the more variety of colors and texture appear.
My work is mostly in the versatile acrylic medium, painted on canvas, combining a fusion of form, color, line and rhythm inspired initially by the artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who broke out of the mold of realism into impressionism, expressionism and abstract painting.
My paintings reflect a vivid palette that blends color and line to create a composition that is independent from realism, but evokes emotion with the inspiration from unique forms, sculpture, nature and mood.
PAST & CURRENT VENUES
Desert Art Center Main Gallery (2021-2023) Palm Springs, CA
Artist’s Council Juried Virtual Exhibit (April 2021, 2023) At the Galen, Palm Desert, CA
Sunrise Country Club Art Show (2019-2023 ) Rancho Mirage, CA
Create Center for the Arts, (2021) Palm Desert, CA
Fall Festival of Art (2018 & 2019) Banning, CA
Rancho Mirage Artists Tour & Pop-up Gallery (2019 & 2020) Rancho Mirage Library, CA
Backstreet Art District Art Walk (2018 & 2019) Palm Spring, CA
Model Home in Leschi (2016) Seattle, WA
Capitol Hill Luma Art Walk (2015) Seattle, WA
Gage Academy of Art (2015)Seattle, WA
Le Reve Bakery (2013 & 2015) Queen Anne, Seattle, WA
Model Home in Ballard (2013) Seattle, WA
Ballard Art Walk @ BalMar Restaurant and Bar (2013 & 2014) Seattle,WA