Art & Life with Jane Du

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jane Du.

Jane, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I am Jane, mom of Finnegan (3.5) and Remington (1.5) — the inspiration behind the silly hedgehogs in my books and a lot of my art. I (until very recently, used to) live in East Dallas with one husband, two boys, three dogs, and five chickens.

For about the last nine years, I have been working in Dallas as an intellectual property attorney and painting in my spare time, mostly to decorate my house and give as gifts. Then with the arrival of my boys, painting became a bit more of an emotional experience where I feel like I’m channeling my love for them into my art. For example, when I was pregnant with Finnegan, I painted three canvases with my favorite scenes from the Calvin & Hobbes comic strip to decorate his nursery. For Remington, I already had a toddler and didn’t have the time to make anything so grand. But my husband kept asking me what we were going to do for Remy. So somehow accidentally and indirectly from that wish, the hedgehogs were born.

Very early on, I could feel that the Finn + Remy brand was something special, but it was confined to the nights and weekends for the first year of its existence. Even still, we were regulars at the Dallas Farmers Market and published our first two picture books: Explore Dallas and The Christmas Story.

Then, in August of 2018, we were in dire need of headspace and family time, so we pushed pause on the American Dream, packed up our house and belongings, and left the country to travel the world with our boys for a year. During this time, we finished and are just pushing the publish button on our latest and greatest book: Einstein’s Trampoline.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
When you see my art or read my books, the only takeaway I want to impart is a sense of wonder. In this age of busyness where weekdays are filled with work and weekends are filled with appointments and birthday parties and social obligations, there is no time to pause, look up at the nighttime sky, and realize the infinitesimal smallness of all our worries and plans. Breathe in and feel how good it is to be a part of this universe, even for a blip of time. And in this blip, realize that you can write your own story.

My illustrated books are primarily for ages 4-8 and tell the stories I wish for my boys to read. My inspirational art (some taken from the books) is for everyone because it’s never too early or too late to feel wonder. My comics are a humorous break created out of necessity by a mom of boys who needed a way to deal with their day to day shenanigans and stay sane.

How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
Success is when you get your message out there to an audience. When it is shared and seen. So for me, I will never stop creating. It is a biological imperative. But what good does creation do for the world if it isn’t seen? I will feel successful when my books are on bestseller lists, and my art is on the walls of kids who grow up to be adults who go on to lead inspirational and wonderful lives.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Follow my art and my travels on Instagram and Facebook at @artbyjanedu. I post everything there. My stories often feature interesting things about life in the places I am currently living (like solid dish detergent in Medellin) and all the good food we are eating along the way with prices for comparison (all the street tacos in Mexico!).

The official website for my art and books is www.finnandremy.com. My books can also be purchased directly from Amazon by searching for “Finn and Remy.”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.finnandremy.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Artbyjanedu/
• Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/artbyjanedu/

Getting in touch: VoyageDallas 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.