Jane Kahler

Jane Kahler, co-owner of Artists' Showplace Gallery paints the sunny Texas landscape in oils.

"For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be an artist.  My father was an artist and a great aunt of mine was an art teacher. When I was very young, my father took me to see her work, which made my desire to be an artist even stronger."

Since art classes were not available at her high school, Jane took mechanical drawing, and even considered being an architect. After graduation, she attended the American School of Commercial Art. She thought about being a fashion illustrator, but nothing ever came of that.

 " I did remain in the commercial art business.  My first art job was in the art department for food wrapping design work.   After that, I landed in the embroidery and emblem design department, in which I remained until retirement."

Raising a family curtailed her desire to paint for a while, but she did get started when her children were in school.  She began taking classes and workshops.  Working full time in the commercial art field, left only evenings and weekends to paint. She even squeezed in an occasional painting workshop on vacations!

"Landscapes have always fascinated me. I like to feel the emotion of being in the area that the painting portrays.  Plein air painting is really enjoyable when the weather permits. Being in the midst of the scene gives a truer sense of the colors in nature.  The painting often has to be done in a much shorter time, because of the sun and shadows. But it is far more exciting than painting from a photograph. Sometimes I've had to cut short my time outdoors because of a rainstorm, or a strong wind that threatens to blow my easel over."

Jane also finds painting portraits of people, pets and wildlife animals, interesting.  "I prefer painting people from life, since you don’t lose all the nuances of color and form, but my paintings of children and animals are all from photographs.  Obviously, getting the subjects to sit still is the problem!

Setting up a still life is an art in itself.  Once you have mastered a good setup that is not too busy, half the work is done. Much can be learned from a good painting instructor.  It could be composition, color theory, values, perspective or technique."

Jane Kahler is comfortable painting in oil, acrylics, watercolor, Prisma pencil, pastel and pen & ink.  However, her favorite medium is oil, since it stays wet and workable, longer than either watercolor, or acrylic. 

Jane Kahler has studied with John Potoschnik, Bruce Peil, Perry Sparks, Darnell Jones, Betty Sampson, James Spurlock and Ann Templeton.

She has been a member and served on the board as President and held other offices, in the following art groups; Associated Creative Artists, Irving Art Association, DeSoto Art League, Association of Creative Artists, Texas Area Artists.

"Painting gets to be an addiction when you love to do it. I enjoy being part of the wonderful group of artists at the Artists' Showplace Gallery, showing and selling my art in this beautiful venue."

Check back often to see Jane's newer work. 

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