Artwork

Click boxes above to see my artwork—arranged here in three categories. Or read on to learn more about what and why I like to paint.

I took an early interest in art with drawing classes at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the DeCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA. At Wellesley College I majored in art and art history, and I studied print-making at the Bottega d’Arte Grafica in Florence, Italy.

Once in Washington, I launched my first business venture, designing and selling custom greeting cards in bright yellow boxes through leading department stores, including Garfinkel’s and Woodward & Lothrop, and gift shops, including The Midnight Sun. I also designed custom holiday cards for Copenhaver, The Flower Designer, and others. I learned all about production and deadlines, but I also learned that I preferred making art to the business of selling it. Nonetheless, I enjoyed doing design and sometimes extensive development work for numerous DC area schools and non-profits including the Washington Wellesley Club, Wellesley College Friends of Art, Sheridan School, the NSO, and Levine Music.

Continuing my previous academic career, I returned to school in 1989 in the doctoral program in American Civilization at GWU. I also took up watercolors in my first painting class at the Smithsonian and then sampled acrylics for the first time in a class at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria. My work on embassies, history, and a range of architectural topics took precedence for the next two decades while I earned my PhD, published my book and numerous articles on U.S. embassy architecture, and taught at the University of Maryland in the Honors College. But as I cut back on teaching and writing, I returned to art.

“Beach Garden, Hull, MA” (shown in banner above) was among the earliest works to capture the cacophony of color and texture that I see in the everyday landscape. Exhibited at The Cosmos Club, it was my first major sale. I often focus on the ocean and the ever-changing sky above. My earliest works were painted over old works on discarded masonite boards or even over old framed works that hung in our family home. I liked the frames, but not the paintings, so I painted new ones inside the old frames and thus plunged into the unknown business of painting—making large (for me!) and expressive pieces of art for the first time. I stocked up on acrylics and ever larger canvases and just kept at it.

My favorite subjects are the beach I enjoy in the summer months, the woods I enjoy in the winter, and the flowers that fascinate me all year round. I sometimes paint dogs. I don’t paint people. Anyone who wants more explanation of what I do or do not do need only ask. I have lots of explanations and I am happy to think of more. Having studied art all my life, I find making it to be a logical step. I do what feels right and this just does. Please share my enthusiasm for the art that follows.

- Jane Loeffler (October, 2020)