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October Issue 2005
The Art Institute of Charlotte in Charlotte, NC, Features Works by Janice Harding Owens
The
Art Institute of Charlotte in Charlotte, NC, will present the
exhibition, Folk Art by Janice Harding Owens, in the Institute's
gallery from Oct. 3 through Nov. 30, 2005.
A self-taught primitive folk artist, Owens is a native and resident of Rockcastle County, KY. She and her husband, Ron Owens, who makes bent willow furniture, are the parents of 7 children and the grandparents of five. In the late '80s and early '90s, she often could be found in her kitchen with a baby in one arm and a paint brush in the other hand.
Owens began painting with acrylics in 1989 and sold her first canvas painting in 1990 to the curator of Central Bank Gallery in Lexington, KY, who arranged for her first show. From that show, Owens was commissioned to do a painting of Hunt Hill Farm, the Connecticut home of the well-known conductor/creator of the Boston Pops Orchestra, Skitch Henderson, and his wife Ruth. Owens opened her second show in 1993 at the Hendersons' Silo Gallery at Hunt Hill Farm. Her painting was featured in the Hendersons' Christmas Book that year and currently is featured in their brochure for the Silo Gallery and Hunt Hill Farm.
In 1996, Owens was commissioned by Brown Forman Corporation of Louisville, KY, to do a painting of the Labrot and Graham Distillery in Woodford County, KY. The painting hangs in the Gallery at the distillery and has been reproduced as post cards. It also is featured on the decanter box for the distillery's Woodford Reserve Whiskey. Owens also was commissioned by Brown Forman to do a painting of the Kentucky Governor's Mansion which was presented to former Governor Paul Patton and wife, Judy, and hangs in the Mansion.
In 2002, Owens and her husband were honored to have pieces of their work exhibited in a show in memory of those who lost their lives on 9/11. The show was sponsored by Phyllis George, former Miss America and former First Lady of Kentucky. The show, which included works from Kentucky Folk Artists, opened at The Kentucky State Fair and then traveled around the country.
The beautiful rural area where she lives inspires Owens, but her paintings are based more on memory and imagination. Her paintings are in the permanent collection of the Kentucky Folk Art Center in Morehead, KY.
For further infomation check our NC Institutional Gallery listings or call Susan Jetton at 704/357-8020.
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