Janet Keith’s work takes inspiration from the tangle of nature, landscapes near and far and music of all kinds, and her approach to painting is intuitive and non-representational. She generally begins a painting by settling in front of the canvas then letting loose with lots of fast, uncensored and spontaneous, mark making. This ‘phase’ is like the sound of the orchestra tuning up – a random but purposeful cacophony. Then the dance between freedom and form begins. That involves a to-ing and fro-ing with the canvas; concealing/revealing areas of paint, adding/subtracting, thinking/acting, finding/losing and finding again. Her task is to hold the initial spontaneity in a considered pictorial structure, enabling the paintings to...
Janet Keith’s work takes inspiration from the tangle of nature, landscapes near and far and music of all kinds, and her approach to painting is intuitive and non-representational. She generally begins a painting by settling in front of the canvas then letting loose with lots of fast, uncensored and spontaneous, mark making. This ‘phase’ is like the sound of the orchestra tuning up – a random but purposeful cacophony. Then the dance between freedom and form begins. That involves a to-ing and fro-ing with the canvas; concealing/revealing areas of paint, adding/subtracting, thinking/acting, finding/losing and finding again. Her task is to hold the initial spontaneity in a considered pictorial structure, enabling the paintings to emerge feeling alive and open. Some pieces resolve into completely abstract compositions and others may suggest a landscape.
INTERVIEW - Find out more about Janet's vibrant abstract paintings, her inspiration from natural surroundings, and how her artistic process allows the energy and life in the painting to shine.
Janet lives and works between County Down and Sussex. She obtained Degrees in both History of Art and Painting, and she is now a full-time painter after several years balancing her developing art practice with a career in the law. Janet has exhibited in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland through commercial galleries, the Ulster Society of Women Artists and the Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibitions. Her work is in private collections in UK, USA, Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium.
EDUCATION
- Master in History of Art, St. Andrews University, Scotland
- Degree (B.A. Hons) in Creative Arts (Painting), Open College of the Arts, UK
AWARDS
- The Founders Trophy (Ulster Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition 2021)
- Paul Henry Landscape Award (Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibiton 2020)
COLLECTIONS
- Painting in the Civil Service of Northern Ireland's Art Collection (public)
- Paintings in private collections in UK, USA, Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium
SOLO EXHIBITION
- 2023 ‘Joy As It Flies’, McAllister Thomas Fine Art, Godalming, Surrey, England
TWO-ARTIST EXHIBITION
- 2024 ‘Inner Visions’, AKA Fine Art, Cambridge, England
- 2021 ‘Painted Perspectives’, Gallery 545, Belfast, Northern Ireland
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
- 2024 ‘Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition’, The Mall Gallery, London
- 2023, 2022 ‘Gallery 545: Contemporary Art of Northern Ireland #4, #3’, Gallery 545 at the Island Arts Centre, Lisburn, N. Ireland
- 2023, 2020, 2017, 2016, ‘Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition’, Ulster Museum, Belfast, N. Ireland
- 2023, 2022 ‘Group Exhibition’, Townhouse, Spitalfields, London
- 2023 ‘Group Exhibition’, AKA Fine Art, Cambridge, England
- 2023, 2022 ‘Group Exhibition’, Linden Hall Studio Gallery, Deal, Kent, England. In collaboration with Goodnestone Park Gardens.
- 2023, 2022 ‘Spring Group Exhibition’, Twenty Twenty Gallery, Ludlow, Shropshire, England
- 2023, 2022, 2021 ‘Group Exhibition’, McAllister Thomas Fine Art, Godalming, Surrey, England
- 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2018 ‘Group Exhibition’, Josie Eastwood Fine Art, Hampshire, England
- 2022 ‘Spring / Summer Group Show’, Ryebank Gallery, Rye, England
- 2021/22 Group exhibition, Frickleton Fine Art, Kent, England
- 2021/22 ‘Art in Corporate Spaces’, Kings Hill Control Tower, Kent, England
- 2021, 2020 ‘Gallery 545 Group Exhibition’, Belfast, N. Ireland
- 2021 ‘Artists on the Rise’, Gallery 545 at the Harrison Hotel, Belfast, N. Ireland
- 2021 'Ulster Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition', Belfast, N. Ireland
- 2019, 2018 Group exhibitions, St. Anne’s Galleries, Lewes, England
- 2017 ‘Group Exhibition’, Royal Society of Marine Painters, Mall Gallery, London
- 2015/16, 2014/15 'Inspired by Nymans' Open Exhibition, National Trust, West Sussex, England
- 2013 ‘Group Exhibition’, Stalls Gallery, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Glyndebourne, East Sussex, England
RESIDENCY
- 2013 Artist in Residence, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Glyndebourne, East Sussex, England
MEMBERSHIP
- 2016 Elected Member of the Ulster Society of Women Artists
2024 ‘Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition’, The Mall Gallery, London
2023, 2022 ‘Gallery 545: Contemporary Art of Northern Ireland #4, #3’, Gallery 545 at the Island Arts Centre, Lisburn, N. Ireland
2023, 2020, 2017, 2016, ‘Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition’, Ulster Museum, Belfast, N. Ireland
2023, 2022 ‘Group Exhibition’, Townhouse, Spitalfields, London.
2023 ‘Group Exhibition’, AKA Fine Art, Cambridge, England