Our Pride from the collection of Summit County Public Art

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Our Pride, 1990

oil on canvas

19 x 23 in

Location: Summit County Administration Building Second Floor 60 N Main St Coalville, UT 84017 (Google map)

In Jan Keyes Megarry's oil on canvas painting, two Cocker Spaniel puppies have tipped over a crate of apples. Sunlight reflects off their golden fur as they contemplate what to do with their prize. Everything is new and curious for them. A straw-filled stable in the background and the weathered wood of a barn suggest that the puppies are new additions to a well-established farm. While the veteran animals might be out working, the puppies are still figuring out their place and what an apple is.

"I escape into my art as I lay oil to canvas, working the colors and lines until they form the appearance of God's creations," says Jan Keyes Megarry. "My portraits are not perfect, but oils make it possible for me to create a resemblance of a feeling of message." Formerly a resident of Utah, Jan Keyes Megarry moved to Colorado. She has worked as a teacher of the blind and visually impaired, and has also helped her husband run four karate schools. "My favorite and most relaxing thing to do is still oil painting," she says. She has two grown children and one granddaughter. Megarry says: "I have found that life is wonderful with its joys and challenges."