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Jan Denton
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Even as a small child I was drawn to realism in art. I enjoyed making my own cameras out of plywood, so that I could look through a peephole that I had drilled into the wood. I took my snapshots by clicking my tongue, and then drew a picture of my snapshot on a tiny role of paper “film.” My mother thought this was amazingly creative, so my artistic inclinations were nourished. Later I would be inspired and awe-struck by the work of Dutch still-life painters and other artists who realistically captured in two dimensions what one usually sees in three.

I studied art in college, where I earned my BA in Fine Arts and enjoyed the instruction of working artists, most of whom I now realize needed to teach to make a living. I learned to draw and paint, using oil, acrylic, and graphite. I learned printmaking and the difference in techniques and materials needed to execute woodcuts, etchings, and lithographs. I enjoyed every minute until I realized that I had no preparation for the real world of work. A focus on the business end of becoming an artist never entered into my mind.

My first job after graduation was with the California State Legislature working for the Speaker of the Assembly. The world of policy and politics was fascinating and so time-consuming that I shifted my energy away from creating art and into the world of politics.

Ultimately I began to miss the juices that flow from artistic preoccupation, so I returned to drawing and painting, taking classes and witnessing the work of other artists, which always inspired me. I left the world of politics for the world of creating art.

I have a Certificate in Botanical Art from the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. and am proud of initiating an exhibit entitled Botanical Treasures of Lewis & Clark, which was exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art from May 19 to July 9, 2006. I enjoy memberships in ArtTable Inc., and serve on the board of the American Society of Botanical Artists. I live in Santa Fe, New Mexico with my husband John Andrews, a Shakespeare scholar, writer and editor.