JAN HURD
Realistic drawings and paintings
Artist Statement:
There are few things that make me happier than drawing something from nature, but I am most successful when I can expose the personality or uniqueness of my subject. Whether it is a plant, an animal, or a human being, it is important to me to grasp some aspect of the subject that drew me to it in the first place.
Artist Bio:
I loved to draw animals when I was a kid, and I realized early on that I could draw just about anything. Nevertheless, practicality ruled, and my undergraduate education at WSU prepared me to teach Social Studies. I taught school in Huntsville, Alabama, for one year and decided I would make a better librarian than teacher, so I got Masters Degree in Library Science at San Jose State University in California. Then, when my kids were small, I took some classes in pottery which set me on my career course for the next 35 years. During that time I moved to Poulsbo and operated an art framing shop there for eight years, while continuing to create small sculptural work in clay. I sold the frame shop in l985 and concentrated on what became a very satisfying career in ceramics. Every winter I traveled to Baltimore to show my work at the American Craft Council Wholesale Art Market, and spent the rest of the year filling the orders obtained there.
Finally, in 2005, I retired from clay, sold all my equipment, and took some classes in Botanical Illustration at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture. It was a wonderful thing to retrieve and enhance the drawing skills I had ignored for all those years of three-dimensional work. I took more classes and joined the Pacific Northwest Botanical Artists, a branch of the American Society of Botanical Artists. Since then I have enjoyed learning how to use watercolors and colored pencils with the aid of some wonderful botanical artists who share their skills in workshops and classes sponsored by PNBA or at Gage Art Institute in Seattle. Recently I've gotten back into drawing animals and people, as well as plants, and have joined the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators.
Contact Information:
janurd@embarqmail.com
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |