Jan Frazee

Energetic impressionistic realism and celebration of the ordinary are a few words that best describe my work. I strive for accurate drawing and proportions of the figure or subject, and sensitive representation of light in my interpretation. I attempt to illustrate my objectives with value, brush stroke and color while keeping the work fresh and simple.
Inspiration/influence: The nuances of human form; moving, working, living… I am captivated by the grace of a gesture and the beauty and emotion of an expression. Life is a collection of moments. In my work as a landscape architect, my objective was always about creating physical space for living. The attention to people in my design background has created, I believe, the desire to capture the moments of life in my paintings.
Growing up in a very “modest” and practical household climate, encouragement to pursue painting and drawing was minimal.  Acclaim for my work in middle and high school art projects encouraged me to pursue an applied design curriculum in college. I earned a degree in Landscape Architecture at Louisiana State University and this became my life work for 30 years. Along the way, I studied painting and drawing as elective study at LSU and at miscellaneous art schools. 
About 10-12 years ago I decided to devote the majority of my time to fine art and began instruction workshops with artists I admired, classes at a local art school and I have been painting full time since then. I began with soft pastel (dry pigment) and achieved some success participating in art events across the county, receiving honors in the figurative and still life categories in the Pastel Journal National Competition 2003, The Mary Louise Womer Award of Excellence at 57th Street Art Fair in Chicago, 2005, from the Pastel Society of America “The Figure in Pastel, A Tribute to Flora Giffuni,” @The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH in 2007, and many art festival awards.
I started to work in oil a couple of years ago and am currently devoting all my painting time to this pursuit.