Biography
Jane French has always been an art maker and an activist. Her portraits of President Eisenhower and First Lady Mamie Eisenhower rendered in colored pencil, earned her a letter of recognition from the White House when she was just in junior high school. She went on to be awarded first place honors two years in a row from the State of Kentucky, in a fine art contest designed to raise awareness of the benefits of hiring differently-abled people. She began working as a professional artist immediately after high school, hand painting black and white portraits for a photography studio. Concurrently, she apprenticed with Kentucky Heritage Artist CG Moorehead where she studied life drawing and created her first signed and number print.
While raising her daughter, she was the art director for a branch of The Indianapolis Public Library where she became interested in large scale pieces. Working primarily in life sized, mixed media and paper sculpture, she created interactive installations for the children's story hours, as well as adult programming, including the design for a college level astronomy course.
As a freelance artist and designer, she has illustrated cartoons, drawn in pen and ink, done set design, costume design and art direction in the theatre, as well as floral design, event design and interior decorating. She painted murals on all seven floors of Miller Manor; a building managed by The Ann Arbor Housing Commission and in 1996 she founded Waterstone Art Studio, where she continues to create and teach. For her 20 years of service, building community in diverse and high risk populations, she received The Community Building Through the Arts Award from Michigan State University.
She continues to study and has done advanced work in the arts at Oakland Community College, Eastern Michigan University and Gemini Art School.
While raising her daughter, she was the art director for a branch of The Indianapolis Public Library where she became interested in large scale pieces. Working primarily in life sized, mixed media and paper sculpture, she created interactive installations for the children's story hours, as well as adult programming, including the design for a college level astronomy course.
As a freelance artist and designer, she has illustrated cartoons, drawn in pen and ink, done set design, costume design and art direction in the theatre, as well as floral design, event design and interior decorating. She painted murals on all seven floors of Miller Manor; a building managed by The Ann Arbor Housing Commission and in 1996 she founded Waterstone Art Studio, where she continues to create and teach. For her 20 years of service, building community in diverse and high risk populations, she received The Community Building Through the Arts Award from Michigan State University.
She continues to study and has done advanced work in the arts at Oakland Community College, Eastern Michigan University and Gemini Art School.
OUI
Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 36 (complete painting not shown.)
Acrylic on Canvas 24 x 36 (complete painting not shown.)