Biography Jane Strother Jane Strother is a studio landscape painter working mainly in oil on canvas or board. Drawing from observation is an important part of her practice, primarily as charcoal or pencil sketches for painting but often developing into finished pieces in their own right. Initially, an arrangement of forms or motifs are established, which must have integrity in relation to the subject. The work is resolved through construction (and deconstruction) of composition, colour, mark-making and abstraction. This adherence to the ‘truth’ can prompt marked differences in the work from one series to another, in choice of colour palette, of scale and mass, of mark. She is excited by composition, colour proportion and value relationships, the quality of a mark and its location, the palpable nature of the painted surface. She trained at Bath Academy of Art, completing a BA in Fine Art and Printmaking in 1978 followed by a PGCE at the University of Bristol and in 2010 an MA in Art Education at Oxford Brookes University. With experience, teaching has become interrelated with her practice. Since 1980 she has worked in schools, colleges and many private organisations, teaching challenging drawing and painting courses for all ages, which enable students at whatever level of experience or ability to develop their own art practice. She works to their needs as a teacher and facilitator. Considerable experience in the line management and training of tutors and in monitoring good practice while working for Oxfordshire County Council and Abingdon and Witney College, has enriched her own performance, both as a teacher and professional painter and printmaker. For eighteen years she worked as a freelance commercial illustrator in publishing, packaging and advertising for a wide range of clients including Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, London Transport, Midland Mainline, Saatchi Design, Reader’s Digest, Longman, Heinemann, Penguin, Random House, Oxford University Press. Publications: The Colour Pencil Artist’s Pocket Palette, published Batsford, The Coloured Pencil Artist’s Bible and numerous magazine articles. Work in public collections: Lloyds Bank, Rank Xerox, Cambridge City Council, London Transport, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge and many private collections. Prizes - Lloyds Bank Young Printmakers Award 1985, Tom Coates Prize for the Oxford Art Society 2004 and 2005 Selected exhibitions
2020 Land Marks (with Ella Clocksin), The Old Fire Engine House, Ely Cambs. 2020 Artist in Residence, Brisons Veor Charitable Trust Annual Oxfordshire Artweeks Open Studio Exhibition Annual Oxford Art Society Open and Members exhibitions 2017 Selected for National Open Arts Annual Exhibition, Bargehouse, London’s South Bank 2016 Selected for The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2012 Group exhibition Lost Landscapes, The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, Oxford 2012 Solo Exhibition ‘Where Can We Live But Days?’ Oxford Brookes University 2010 & 1999 Artist in Residence, Garsington Opera 2009 – 2010 Artist in Residence, Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford 2009 Inspiration, Interpretation (curator), Oxford 1983 - 2004 Commercial freelance Illustration for publishing, packaging and advertising 1986 - 1990 Lithograph editions, published Curwen Studio, London W1, Abacus (colour printers) Ltd. 1986 - 1990 Screen-print editions, published Belgravia Contemporary Arts
