About The Artist
STATEMENT
For the past decade, in all weather and almost every day, I have documented the seasons of rural land where I live on the Niagara Escarpment (a UNESCO world biosphere reserve). These paintings are ‘grown’ primarily with oil on canvas and I am struck by the common elements between my own art practice and the seasons and cycle of harvest. Each must have faith in what the land will give. When I am out painting in the land I am surrounded by new growth as well as the old and dying. All have grown from the same place and all go back to the same place: “each seed according to its own kind.. each one knowing what to do, each one demanding its own rights on the earth...” - Emily Carr.
Painting plein air is immediate and intuitive and is affected on a daily basis by what cannot be controlled- climate. Through direct painting from nature I am developing a deeper understanding of the environmental factors that determine our world’s future. By laying marks down on canvas I hope to articulate an intimate dialogue with our natural and agricultural world. What I also find enlightening in painting on open land is that I am in the midst of so very many creatures ‘unseen’ -their continued presence entirely dependent on our Eco system. Protection and the importance of maintaining ecological integrity concerning protected land informs my work.
Painting plein air is immediate and intuitive and is affected on a daily basis by what cannot be controlled- climate. Through direct painting from nature I am developing a deeper understanding of the environmental factors that determine our world’s future. By laying marks down on canvas I hope to articulate an intimate dialogue with our natural and agricultural world. What I also find enlightening in painting on open land is that I am in the midst of so very many creatures ‘unseen’ -their continued presence entirely dependent on our Eco system. Protection and the importance of maintaining ecological integrity concerning protected land informs my work.
Bio
Jan Yates, SCA, spent her childhood in the agricultural region of Niagara, Ontario, Canada. As an artist and young adult she lived and practiced in the city of Toronto but did not pursue art professionally until she moved to Southern California in her late twenties. Yates studied independently and worked under master artists Urania Christy Tarbet, Michael Jaques, Steven Doherty and Manuael de Leon.
Since moving back to Canada in 1995, Jan Yates has been elected as a member of the Society of Canadian Artists and Landscape Artists International. Her work is held in collections throughout North America, Southern Ireland, France, England and Australia and she has been awarded numerous grants from the Ontario Arts Council. As well, Yates has garnered recognition and awards from selected juried exhibitions in Canada and the United States.
For the past decade Jan Yates has recorded the seasons of rural land on the Niagara Escarpment (a UNESCO world biosphere reserve). Inspired by Canada’s Emily Carr, Yates paints almost entirely plein air, enabling her to engage in an intimate dialogue with our natural and agricultural world. She also examines the correlation between her own practice and seasons and cycle of harvest- each the having faith in what the land will bring. The artist also works on the land in order to be ‘in the midst of so very many creatures ‘unseen’ -their continued presence entirely dependent on our Eco system.’ Protection and the importance of maintaining ecological integrity concerning protected land informs her work.
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Jan Yates has been an influential figure in the Niagara art scene, contributing her time and ideas to many community endeavours. Currently the artist is documenting the impact of Greenbelt legislation on agricultural land in Southern Ontario. Yates is also expanding her agri-cultural investigations to include rural communities outside of Canada. Past ventures encompass the Niagara Wine Region Painters' Alliance travelling exhibition series and mentoring at-risk youth for community mural projects. She continues to teach painting and her work is represented by the Jordan Art Gallery, of which she is a partner.
Jan Yates, SCA, spent her childhood in the agricultural region of Niagara, Ontario, Canada. As an artist and young adult she lived and practiced in the city of Toronto but did not pursue art professionally until she moved to Southern California in her late twenties. Yates studied independently and worked under master artists Urania Christy Tarbet, Michael Jaques, Steven Doherty and Manuael de Leon.
Since moving back to Canada in 1995, Jan Yates has been elected as a member of the Society of Canadian Artists and Landscape Artists International. Her work is held in collections throughout North America, Southern Ireland, France, England and Australia and she has been awarded numerous grants from the Ontario Arts Council. As well, Yates has garnered recognition and awards from selected juried exhibitions in Canada and the United States.
For the past decade Jan Yates has recorded the seasons of rural land on the Niagara Escarpment (a UNESCO world biosphere reserve). Inspired by Canada’s Emily Carr, Yates paints almost entirely plein air, enabling her to engage in an intimate dialogue with our natural and agricultural world. She also examines the correlation between her own practice and seasons and cycle of harvest- each the having faith in what the land will bring. The artist also works on the land in order to be ‘in the midst of so very many creatures ‘unseen’ -their continued presence entirely dependent on our Eco system.’ Protection and the importance of maintaining ecological integrity concerning protected land informs her work.
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Jan Yates has been an influential figure in the Niagara art scene, contributing her time and ideas to many community endeavours. Currently the artist is documenting the impact of Greenbelt legislation on agricultural land in Southern Ontario. Yates is also expanding her agri-cultural investigations to include rural communities outside of Canada. Past ventures encompass the Niagara Wine Region Painters' Alliance travelling exhibition series and mentoring at-risk youth for community mural projects. She continues to teach painting and her work is represented by the Jordan Art Gallery, of which she is a partner.
