Description

Jan Munro
“My paintings are made with watercolour, acrylic, pastels and sometimes a mixture of media. I am primarily a landscape painter using both local and other UK places for inspiration. More recently I have been developing still life paintings in pastel. I love to buy a piece of pottery wherever I visit and it inspires a still life.
I aim to represent a place or thing but also to convey to the viewer my inspiration and feelings about what I am painting. I want to look beyond the reality.
Composition and design are key elements in my paintings so that there is a feeling of balance. There will always be a sense of light and space. I work hard to master the media that I use so that the painting seems to flow beyond technique and to be made with a playful curiosity and seemingly without struggle.
Enabling others to enjoy and develop their own art is a big part of my life. Weekly classes for adults take up much of term time. Often preparing a class informs a painting. They go hand in hand.
I like to spend time in a place, make sketches, take photos and gather as much information as I can. Paintings of landscape are mostly made in my studio from sketches made on site. If I use a photo I always make a sketch from it and use memories of that place so that I move away from the totally representational. More and more I like to paint en plain air sketches usually in watercolour. Landscapes are made in watercolour and acrylic with texture and distance in mind.
A still life is always set up in my studio. Recently I have been including landscape or place in with the still life. This can take time. I need to see it for colours, patterns and light. I then do a drawing. Pastel is the medium. I use a sanded surface in a mid or dark tone. Pastel is applied dark to light with side strokes and some layering.”
AWARDS
The Annie Longley Award: The Pastel Society 2016
The Frank Herring & Sons Award: The Pastel Society 2016
Best In Show: St Albans Art Society 2016
The Artist Magazine Award: The Pastel Society exhibition 2015
The Unison Award: The Pastel Society Exhibition 2015
The Wicked Watercolour Award: The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour.
Best in Show: Berkhamsted Art Society 2015
Best in show: St Albans Art Society 2006/2007

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Woburn Art Gallery, Woburn
St Albans Art Society Exhibition.
Trent Art Gallery 19 Newcastle under Lyme
St Albans Art Society:
Upstairs Gallery, Berkhamsted
Berkhamsted Art Society
Chiltern Ms Centre
The Pastel Society, The Mall Galleries
Harpenden Arts Club
Yvonne Arnaud Exhibition :Guildford
Mentmore Village Art Exhibition
Upstairs Gallery, Berkhamsted Chiltern Open Air Museum
The Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour
Parallax: Chelsea Town Hall
The Society of Women Artists

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Munro, Jan: “Artists to Watch”, The Pastel Journal, US, Dec 2016, p.23
Munro, Jan: “Colour, Shape and Space”, The Artist Magazine, Nov 2015, p.12

COLLECTIONS
Paintings held in many Private collections.

ORGANISATIONS
Member of:
The Pastel Society
Herts Visual Arts Forum
Harpenden Art Society
Berkhamsted Art Society
Committee member of St Albans Art Society.