Jan Heaton
Drawing, Painting
Jan Heaton's art quietly unravels a story that creates an emotional connection with the viewer and reminds us of a feeling, place, or time. A quest for the natural beauty that surrounds us, her paintings are inspired by the structure, color, and patterns in nature. Working in watercolor, her organic forms integrate with the texture of the heavy cotton paper. The marks, pigment selections, and translucent layers are precise, thoughtful, and carefully planned.
Jan’s observations on how color influences our well-being are translated into a visual escape. A reverent personal journey created by thousands of stories, life experiences, and what brings her peace, inform Jan’s desire to offer a new perspective on familiar forms. She opens a window to the beauty she finds in her world and offers it up for the interpretation of the viewer in her works.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, and now living in Oakwood, Ohio, Jan Heaton is a third-generation artist. Her artwork is represented by galleries and art dealers in Austin, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Atlanta. She teaches workshops at Rosewood Arts Center, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Oklahoma Fine Arts Institute, Contemporary Austin Art School, and Peninsula School of Art.
Selected Collections:
University of Virginia Medical Center, Charlottesville, Virginia
University Hospital, San Antonio, Texas
Dell Children’s Medical Center, Austin, Texas
Dell Children’s Rosedale School Clinic, Austin, Texas
University of Texas Nursing School, Round Rock
Hiatus Spa + Retreat: Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Worth, Plano
Texas Oncology, Austin, Texas
University of Colorado Health Center, Denver, Colorado
Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa, Atlantic City, Atlanta
Stephen F. Austin Hotel, Austin, Texas
Ritz Carlton Hotels: Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, Chicago, Laguna Niguel, St. Louis, Kuwait, Shenzhen, China, and more
Four Seasons Hotels: Marrakesh, Austin, Boston, Dallas, Denver, and more
Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
Wynn Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada
OH Restaurant, Chicago, Illinois Cato’s Restaurant, Noosa Head, Australia
Wachovia Bank, Houston, Texas
What makes a work successful, for me, is rhythm. I love the marks on the paper to move, dance, and unravel a journey. I always start with an idea, small color studies, and sketches. The color palette I work with is guided by the subject matter, sometimes the weather and even the mood I am in. I never start a painting with the same colors. I am always mixing colors, and rarely use a color straight from the tube. I prefer transparent watercolors, as opposed to opaque, as my work has many layers.
My paintings are personal observations of color, movement, relationships and forms in nature. I prefer the watercolor medium, as I love paper, and the tactile manner in which the pigment integrates with the paper. Painting on cold pressed 100% cotton paper I patiently build translucent, veiled layers of color, allowing the forms and values to evolve in a detailed and orchestrated manner. I normally work in a series, which permits the wet color to dry thoroughly between layers. The images are not restricted by the paper’s edges. Every random mark is there because it needs to be there. The reputed “happy mistakes” (that watercolor legend reports often occur in this medium) are planned and controlled.
The circular orbs in my current work are simple, bold, direct, sensual, playful and often mysterious. The sphere recalls harmony, rhythm, movement, patterns, and boundless symbolic metaphors. In my work the circle exists independently and in groups, referencing water patterns on a shore, or a rising moon, rounded fruits, or the shape of a flower. The circle reminds me of family and friends, who are very important to my creative process. The times spent in a circle, talking, eating, dancing, playing, telling stories and solving the problems of everyday life. The memories of this connection to the circle are important to me.
My intention is not to impose a specific message to the viewer. I often hesitate to title my paintings for fear that they will be translated only according to my vision and close a door to the viewer’s interpretations. I hope my paintings will allow the viewer to observe a familiar object in a new way.
"The body is made up of thousands of stories. You hold the pen every moment of every day and night. One small stroke of a yes can alter the book. An ongoing reminder that every chapter is yours". - Victoria Erickson
Floribunda
60 x 40"
Watercolor on Arches 1114# cold press paper