Janet Nelson
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Janet has been driven from a very young age to create. She was only five years old when she set up her first studio. Growing up in the Bay area of California, Janet was inspired early on by the “hippie” art of the sixties and developed s fascination with art that was create with found objects; like the sculptures on the Emeryville mud flats. As she grew, her influences grew to include many styles of realistic and surrealistic art. Janet enjoys work that creates an intense visual bombardment, driven by intuition and impulse, without boundaries or restrictions.

Janet believes that art and religion are two words that have no equivalents in Native American languages, yet these intensely spirited people created objects for everyday use that are unsurpassed for sheer beauty.

Janet has created a unique method of replicating these artifacts using contemporary materials: painted mixed polymers and paper laminated with wood glue. These materials are then distressed to give the look of an old piece.

Her wire pieces reflect Janet’s interest and love for animals. She works with single strand steel or aluminum wire, with a technique similar to hard crochet, allowing her to create three-dimensional pieces that have the feeling of a line drawing. “It is a challenge to capture the essence of an animal’s movement or repose, but the more I study them, the more I am struck by their beauty”.