ABOUT
Finding Elegance in Simplicity
I'm Jana, a German artist living near the city of Kiel.
My work centers around moments of connectedness. It’s a fleeting moment of time in the human experience, a state of consciousness we enter. I’m inspired by moments of quiet elegance, graceful power and touching harmony where we are present and truly connected to ourselves.
I wish my paintings to radiate the feeling of a moment into a space. Hence my process of creation doesn’t start with a subject but with the feeling that inspired me. In that sense my approach to painting is almost design-oriented, as I’m seeking to translate a feeling into a visual expression. A fleeting moment captured on canvas to extend for as long as we want.
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Experiencing the graceful elegance of a moment is an act of cutting through the noise of the world, to put a stake in the ground for what is meaningful to us. My paintings are a hommage to our ability to choose consciously. I’m seeking to reduce a motif until I find what I call it’s pure essence. The essence of the moment that inspired the painting- moments of connectedness to quiet elegance. That’s how I uncover elegance in simplicity.
ELEGANT QUESTIONS
How long does it take to finish a painting?
Most of the time I spend on developing the idea and translating it into a composition that transports the idea. That is the time where you find me in my studio, staring at the wall and chewing on my paintbrush. The actual painting of an artwork usually takes between 2-4 weeks of work. After that the oil paint needs to cure, which takes between 4-6 weeks before I apply the final varnish to protect the painting. In total, it usually takes 2-3 months for a painting to be completed.
How do you come up with your motifs?
My approach to developing a motif is very design-oriented. My subjects originate from the intention that a painting should radiate a specific feeling in the space, a feeling one would want to have around every day. This part is the best and most intense aspect of my work - the development of a motif starting from a feeling. During this phase, I gather ideas with intense concentration, discard them, start over until I find something that captures the feeling.
P.S: ....and every living being in my house knows when I am in this phase.
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Can I see your artworks in a gallery?
I sell my paintings directly through my website as well as through selected galleries. Please find all information in my Shop. From time to time I also exhibit artworks. I send all updates about this to my mailing list. Subscribe here to receive news on new works and exhibitions.
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What does your painting process looks like?
I work with perhaps the most classic materials: oil paint on canvas. The artworks are created in fine layers, each needs to dry before the next layer is applied. That's how I create wonderful, sometimes transparent, layers of color that glow in the sunlight.
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Furthermore, the process of painting is my instrument to savor a feeling - an expansion of time. That's also why it's a slow process, more like a meditation in glorious silence. I hope to convey this energy - elegant silence on the wall and in the heart. For people who appreciate subtle beauty. For spaces that radiate quiet elegance.
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Do you have paintings that you start and don't finish or continue later?
During my first 10 years, I had a lot of such paintings. I got stuck quite often because I lacked the knowledge and experience to execute the painting as I imagined it in my head. Today, it still happens from time to time that the image doesn't emerge under my brush as I envisioned it or I find the overall result not convincing enough. However, I no longer put paintings aside in the hope that I can fix it later. I either fix it right away or destroy it to keep my mind free to move on the next piece of work.
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with love,
Jana Gaul
Wir sind immer noch zutiefst beeindruckt! Die Kunstwerke sind wunderschön und strahlen eine schlichte Schönheit aus, die ihresgleichen suchen.
Heike & Michael
Jana hat mich von Ihrer Kunst so überzeugt und einfach umgehauen. Ich folge ihr seit der Serie "Pieces of Elegance" auf Instagram und hatte das große Glück eins der Lieblingsbilder zu erwerben! Ich betrachte es so oft ich kann und bin dann überglücklich! Ich freue mich schon auf weitere Werke!
