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Light affects our individual perception of color, that we know, but in Janet Siegel Rogers’ luminous, glowing pieces, our perception alters the light. Janet’s extensive experimentation to find the perfect medium for her exploration of color brought her to discover that beeswax mixed in oil paint serves to suspend the pigment, and our disbelief.
Our first impression is the absolute jewel of hues, shining in the light, until we are drawn in and find a lineless, formless fractal of sorts, where the color folds in upon itself in waves. Her pigments appear to be suspended, surrounded by light at the face and behind each brushstroke as the wax keeps it buoyant within the layers. Depending on the angle we see the brushstroke and how it relates to the light.
It took her years to discover this ancient technique of the use of encaustic, which allows for the creation of rich textures and layers, giving an artwork a three-dimensional quality. When she paints it is as if she carves gently into the wax, building up the layers with her brush.
Janet’s life experiences have naturally influenced her work, notably her six years in the Far East, which impacted her aesthetic sensibilities. Former Executive Director for the Boca Museum of Art, George S. Bolge, remarked, “Her art is the result of a loving and shrewd reading not only of life and of the old masters, but of modernism as well, and it lies in direct linear descent from the art of Monet, Bonnard, Klee, and Rothko.”
But she also conjures the color interactions of Josef Albers, the color fields of the abstract expressionists and by stressing the absolute relativity of color, her work enriches our viewing, the experience we have in our world, and ultimately our sense of who we are.
Like Albers, Janet was a distinguished educator. For 45 years, from kindergarten through graduate school, she shared space for color exploration. She established the Advanced Placement Studio Art program for the Performing & Visual Arts School of Broward County, and was named Broward County Arts Educator of the Year. She served as a Studio Art Consultant to the College Board, and was an art education delegate for Eisenhower’s program for cultural exchange, People to People. She travelled to Egypt, Israel, Turkey, and China through this Citizens Ambassador Program.
Janet holds three degrees: a B.A., M.A., and an M.F.A. from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Her work is collected internationally and nationally and is in the permanent collections of museums, including the Boca Raton Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art, and the Hollywood Art & Culture Center.
“I do not paint what people see but I hope people see what I paint.” –Janet Siegel Rogers.
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Over the years there have been major influences that have changed my thinking and creativity and which evolved into the painting idea that I continue to explore. My seeing and creating totally changed when I was introduced to The Color Experiments Program developed by Yale University Artist and Professor Josef Albers.
Color is elusive; it never stays the same. It interacts with what surrounds it and what is behind it. I use this concept in my work.
I mainly did landscapes early in my career. Later for several years, I disciplined myself to paint with only ultramarine blue, burnt sienna, naples yellow plus white. Seeing how many ways this palette could change was a major learning experience. Putting different mediums in the paint created areas of gloss and matte finishes. Not good for a colorist. I discovered a beeswax finish which solved the problem. This beeswax experience introduced me to adding it to my oils.
When I moved to Florida I had the opportunity to work with well known Op Artist Richard Anuszkiewicz. He advised me to let go of my northern thinking and just look and play. What struck me was the multitude of colors and the landscape. There is a horizon line where the land or sea meet the sky.
Here is the subject to float my idea of interaction of color using a limited palette. Another influence from my mentor Artist John Day came to mind. He cautioned me, “Don’t lose your strokes.” My paintings are a combination of using only three colors but choosing from a wide range of colors and applying with my energy different strokes from an horizon line either actual or inferred.
This is technically the process. The sum of these do not equal the whole. Some of the works speak to an experience or a painting idea I want to explore. They become more than paint on canvas. The work is never finished as there is always the next vision.
