SigMT

ese lyrical words, wrien over one hundred years ago, echo in my head aer talking with Janell James about her artistic works. A Utah native, James has always been enthralled with trees, having grown up around old growths near her family home. From a young age, she knew she wanted to become an artist. But how could she set herself apart while exemplifying traditional landscape artistry? A fundraiser providing access to the arts, called 300 Plates, helped James find her individual voice. Each year, artists are given a medium on which to create their artwork. One year, organizers handed her sheets of acrylic glass. "I didn't know what to do with these because at the time I was painting traditionally with oils," James says. "But then I realized people can't really see the process of layering paints and glazes, maybe up to ten layers, that I was doing with my oils. I wanted people to understand the layering process. It took me breaking down my process and opening myself up to an opportunity to try something completely unique and absolutely my own." Looking at her work today is far from a traditional landscape experience. Using five sheets of plexiglass, James paints on both sides, starting with a dark opaque surface and going to light, creating a ten-layered painting "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree." -Joyce Kilmer "Song Birds" Acrylic on Multi-Panel Acrylic Glass 32" x 26" SiG MT 37 SiG MT 45

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