Today we’d like to introduce you to Jan Ayers Friedman.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
All artists start the same way- we grab a pencil as soon as we gain the motor skill to focus on it, and we never stop pushing boundaries. It’s how we work out problems and test theories: if you can manifest a thing, then you can look at it and see if it rings true.
In 2012, I joined a shared studio in the Riverside District in Fort Worth, and everything changed. Simply being able to work there instead of on a kitchen table or in a spare bedroom made a huge difference in the quality of my work. I also met a group of artists who remain necessary to my progress- we critique and throw ideas back and forth. That has helped me refine, focus, and raise the bar on what I do.
When my husband and best supporter died in 2016, I stayed in the studio but stopped producing much work for a long time. And now I’m feeling the art coming back- after two years of grays and blues, I’m wanting huge, slap-in-the-face color. And I’m wanting to work big, Big, BIG… I’ve already started collaborating with a jewelry designer on a sculpture series. I’ve learned that there is nothing left to be afraid of. At all. It’s all bonus now.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I don’t know anybody who has a smooth road! That’s the watershed, and I don’t blame anyone who doesn’t get past it. I worked for 40 years for a regular paycheck and did art at night in an unheated, uncooled porch room. Who wants to do that? So lots of very talented people just quit. And I’ve often thought about it, but I’d croak if I thought I could never drip paint outside in the wind, or sling concrete, or see what would happen if I painted with weeds.
What else would I do? Becoming widowed has been my hardest struggle- there were legal problems and loneliness- and I honestly had to face what might happen if I never did any art again at all. I wondered if I would ever work again. But that has actually refined my focus. I’ve been forced to look at what matters to me: what’s still real, and what is genuine.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Jan Ayers Friedman Fine Art – what should we know?
I make art that researches energy. Universal energy. I am driven to think about how quantum physics and Kabbalah are sympathetic, and if we could see how energy works, what would it look like? And if I make art like that, will a viewer respond? Did I get anything at all right? There’s where people can connect on a very genuine level- tell me what emotional reaction you get when you look at this. Good or bad- I don’t care. It’s real if something has tapped into another person’s consciousness.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Everyone who gives me feedback or ideas helps me refine, but a few people deserve extra recognition. Pam Campbell of William Campbell Gallery in Fort Worth is especially warm, helpful, and gentle with artists trying to fit in. Lauren Cross, whose thesis project gallery, WoCA, was my first professional exhibition space gave me recognition.
And my friend Nan Phillips, of Nan Phillips Art Glass and Sculpture in Richardson, has not only put up with some bat-crazy projects but has joined in with enthusiasm and made very rational suggestions that made the projects successful.
Pricing:
- Paintings and 2-dimensional works range from $400 to $3,600, depending on size and medium.
- Sculptures start at $200 for small objects and go to $6,500 for bronze.
Contact Info:
- Address: 1300 Gendy Street Fort Worth, Texas
- Website: www.janayersfriedman.net
- Instagram: janayersfriedmanart
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janayersfriedman/
Image Credit:
Cherisha Kay Norman
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