The Jetty Gallery
Jan Nelson
Janet (Jan) Nelson was born in Glasgow in 1956 and brought up on the East coast of Scotland. Mainly self-taught, she studied for three years at Leith School of Art and has been painting for over 25 years.
Jan works full time from her studio by the beautiful Kyles of Bute, where work can be combined with her other great love of sailing. She makes regular trips around the coast of Britain to observe the changing scenery and find new ideas for her work. Whether you are a sailor or not, Jan's passion for the sport is obvious from her painting, which captures the tremendous movement, thrills and glorious colours of sailing both in a scenic and racing sense. To instil an emotional impact in her paintings, Jan likes to get out on the water as often as work will allow! The last few years have had some exciting experiences including racing during Cowes Week on Clipper 68 – ‘Derry-Londonderry’, which had just returned with the rest of the Clipper Fleet after their round the world race and a windy west coast sail around the Mull of Kintyre. The adrenalin rush and action on board the boats have been a great inspiration for many of her racing paintings.
Although the majority of Jan’s work relates to the sea, she is also an accomplished landscape painter where a passion for nature comes to the fore, particularly in her floral works. She works mainly in Acrylic or oil, depending on the subject matter. In her work she makes extensive use of impasto techniques – laying the paint on thickly using both brush and palette knife – the paint itself, in its reflection of light and the speed and strength of its application, echoes the subject matter. Her versatility means she can switch easily from detailed sea and sailing pieces to abstracts and change medium to suit.
Jan concentrates her work within a few select galleries around the United Kingdom and paintings can also be found in numerous private collections worldwide.