The mountainside is a frisky percussion of color and pattern in Jan Perkins’ oil painting, “West of Bald Mountain.” There is kinetic energy to the piece— the brushstrokes are so playful the piece feels almost more like a dance than a painting. Or it is as if the artist is hopping from stone to stone as she works her way across the canvas. The composition is carefully plotted in terms of color and gradient of tones— with swaths of light, mid, and dark tones creating a dominant macro pattern across the piece. But the brushstrokes are executed quickly— giving the painting
its joyful mood.
Jan Perkins graduated with a degree in illustration from Utah State University. She has worked as a fashion and magazine illustrator before turning to painting full time. Working in oils, she prefers to layer her paint using a palette knife, with some brush work to create richly textured work. Her paintings have exhibited in Oil Painters of America Western Regional Show, the American Plains Artist’s Show, the 16th Annual American Impressionist Society National Exhibition at Trailsides Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ, the 46th Annual Mountain Oyster Club Contemporary Art Show and Sale in Tucson, AZ, the American Academy of Equine Art Spring Exhibition, and the Cheyenne Frontier Days Western Art Show. Her work as also shown in numerous local exhibitions, including the Park City Kimball Arts Festival , and the Springville Museum of Art, Spring Salon.
![[Summit County Fair Grounds] by George Beard, Image 1.](https://assets.artworkarchive.com/image/upload/t_jpg_medium_width/v1/user_50179/GeorgeBeard_1130_medium_qpc6vj.jpg)
