About Janet Zeh

About Me

Have you ever wanted to spend every day doing what you love? I hope you are doing that!

As for me, I am grateful for the chance to do what I love every day - paint the beauty of nature, including that of my native New England and places I have traveled.  On my blog, I share with you some of my small daily paintings and demonstrations of larger works and pet portraits.

 If you see something you like on my site, but it has been sold, please contact me to discuss having a print or a custom painting made.
I'm always happy to hear from you whether you are an art collector or an artist. Feel free to leave a comment on my art blog and let me know what you think. Wishing you many blessings! ~Janet

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Here's a little more info since you have come to this page to find out about me. Your first question may well be: "How long have you been an artist?" Well my answer is pretty standard as far as artists go and that is: for a long time; for as long as I can remember! Really, as soon as I could hold a crayon in my chubby little fist, nothing with a flat surface was safe. For instance, when there was no paper available, I drew on the wallpaper. Windowsills were even better, because I could close the curtains to hide the evidence (I really thought that would work). My parents claim I somehow even got high enough to color near the ceiling in the hopes that no one would see.

Fortunately for all involved, I finally found an acceptable outlet for my desire to draw when I began formal art training with a private tutor at age eight. Later, I studied art at Nazareth College of Rochester, Southern Connecticut State University and Rhode Island School of Design.

While raising three sons, I worked for eighteen years as a part-time free-lance illustrator in pen and ink and digital graphics. In 1994 I began working in watercolor and fell in love with painting! When my watercolors won Best in Show at my first juried art show in 1997, it encouraged me to leave a public school teaching job and become an artist full-time. I never looked back and have been painting daily ever since.
 

In addition to subsequent painting awards, I have won commissions for indoor and outdoor nature and garden murals for both the public and private sector. I have designed and painted theatrical sets and backdrops for two full-length ballets and illustrated half a dozen botanical and geologic books for the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.

Besides all the above, I sell my watercolor and oil paintings online here on my website ZehOriginalArt.com and on Etsy. My hundreds of paintings (actually over a thousand) have been collected throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia and Russia.  

So now that you know about my work, how about when I'm not painting? I'm a nature lover and find inspiration and relaxation out-of-doors. I like to walk in the countryside or at the beach, climb a mountain or two, and do some gardening in my studio flower gardens.

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Artist Statement

By painting the beauty of the natural world, I express my love for the Creator God. I create intimate pieces that are moving and inspirational; that awaken the spirit to the wonders of creation through the colors and richness in everyday scenes.

For my paintings, I choose themes from nature that interest and inspire me - flowers from my garden and the landscapes and seascapes of my native New England or my travels. My goal is to accentuate the form and life of a subject through the use of value and color in order to draw the viewer into the scene. Therefore, a painting must be as engaging up close as it is from a distance. I am particularly fascinated with the rainbow of hues found in the shadows of white flowers and will often use complements to achieve sumptuous glowing color. ~JZ