About Jan Schoonover

My paintings have different landscapes — emotional landscapes. My artwork always refers to a scene. One most important to me is my powerful landscape 9/11 painting — a frozen explosion. My painting Whimsy floats above the world, a moment of peace. These two extremes are my most valued emotions; the most theatrical and the most meaningful.

Art, poetry, and music all relate. Paint, itself, is music and poetry. The notes are the colors. There are forms and shapes.

Humor.  There is tremendous humor in my art, and that has kept me going through despair.

My recent exhibit, Umbrella, exudes a sense of fun and experimentation. All possible materials were considered when bringing them to life: lace, makeup, paint, paper, threads, string, rickrack, ribbon, and clay. The Umbrellas become individual spirits with their own special personalities, each dressed differently, each unique.  They play in the wind, dance on the green lawn. They are graceful windmills allowing nothing to stop them; full of life, color and spirit. They are part of the wind and belong to the wind itself.

The Umbrellas themselves are protectors, keeping away the elements of heat, rain, sleet, snow, and beaming rays of sun. Each umbrella was a project, carefully pieced together, thoughtfully designed, and constructed with love. This project was great fun and comforts my soul. The Umbrellas are now ready to go out into the modern world.