Today we’d like to introduce you to Jane Berke.
Jane, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I am a self-taught artist, creating primarily in Acrylics and Mixed Media.
I come from a long line of creative women. My grandmother carved animals out of soap and both my grandmothers were excellent seamstresses. My mother did beautiful handiwork, which at the time seemed boring and old-fashioned to me. Now, I wish I could duplicate the precision of those stitches! She also was an ardent collector of a range of artwork.
When I was a child, our home was colorful, boasting a red wall in our living room and Asian rugs that displayed luscious shades of chartreuse and vibrant reds. I love vibrant colors and mixing colors and patterns, often gravitating toward mixed media materials, sometimes making my own papers to add to the collage, adding charcoal line work or adding a splash of oils to enhance and pop the colors. Like my mother and grandmothers before me, I always dabbled in some sort of creative outlet, decoupaging lunch boxes in the 60’s, pouring psychedelic looking sand paintings in the 70’s, creating fabric flowers or knitting grandchildren’s sweaters, to name a few. I feel privileged that my family loved and collected art and exposed me early on to the works of great artists. Painting allows me to express and discover my inner self with every new canvas and I feel grateful every time I pick up a paintbrush.
Hailing from New York, it took me by surprise that pigs, cows, barns, florals (non-realistic often whimsical ones seem to pop out of my brain) and country charms abound and seem to appear effortlessly in my work. I guess you can take the girl out of the City! My work is happy and hopefully shares the joy I feel while creating.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I paint, hum and sing (although you would not want to hear it) unconsciously while creating. I find painting more relaxing than deep breathing, more energizing than yoga! I want to inspire my “patrons” to take a walk in nature and to appreciate the natural beauty all around them. My artwork is not realistic and yet not abstract…I guess the flowers are not a true botanical variety but just images from my mind and animals resemble their references but are again merely expressions of that animal that comes from the recesses of my mind.
What responsibility, if any, do you think artists have to use their art to help alleviate problems faced by others? Has your art been affected by issues you’ve concerned about?
I believe while the role of artists has changed dramatically from the caveman’s drawings to the Renaissance to the Impressionists to the Modernists (and all art in between) a few things remain the same. The need to communicate and to enrich someone’s life and aesthetic sense are constants. With modern technology and the stresses everywhere, for me personally it is more important than ever to create some happiness and light, to evoke a smile by creating happy, pretty, or sometimes positively silly art.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My artwork can be found locally in the Atlanta area in the following galleries and home decor shops: I.D.E.A. Gallery in Chamblee, Sloan Home in Buckhead, Gibson Co. in Cumming, Matilda’s Galerie in Alpharetta, Black Dog Interiors in Roswell, the Burton Gallery in Lake Burton, Sunshine Village Art Gallery in Watkinsville (near Athens) and in the Studio Gallery in Grayton Beach, Florida.
I can be found on Instagram @ Jane Berke Art and on my Facebook art page @ Jane Berke Art…and art lovers are always welcome to private message me for sizes and prices.
Contact Info:
- Email: janeberke@bellsouth.net
- Instagram: Jane Berke Art
- Facebook: Jane Berke Art
Getting in touch: VoyageATL is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
