Fowler Fine Arts

Business Description

Jane Fowler

Artist Biography

I am a BIPOC disabled woman with three children who spent 26 years as an EMT and CNA in the health care industry while going to school. I went to the University of Washington for one year before moving to Sacramento, CA. After getting my A.S. degree in Science, Math & Engineering from Sacramento City College in 1991 I transferred to the University of California, Davis where I completed 90 units in Studio Art before opening up a studio and collective gallery space with 10 other artists in 1995. I was showing my art in local and regional juried solo and group exhibits and doing experimental documentaries. In 2004 I quit working in health care and did fine art full time. I went back to school and received a B.S. in Small Business Administration online from University of Phoenix in 2006. A bicycle accident in 2018 cost me three hip surgeries in each hip and now I ambulate with forearm crutches. Today, I am still showing and selling my Abstract Neoexpressionistic and Representational paintings and stone sculptures online nationally and internationally. I also produce PSAs for nonprofit groups and documentaries on art, culture, nature and science for a local cable TV channel.

Artist Statement

During COVID-19 pandemic it gave me time to develop new art and I explored media, called polyresin foam, that I applied to my canvases. I use high quality Utrecht gesso, Utrecht acrylic paint, and archival UV light protection on my gallery wrapped canvases in the mixed media abstract expressionistic genre. I enjoy the process of making kinetic art based in biological functions basic to life. I feel closer to people after being isolated for so long and working at home outside. My hope is to share the experimentation with others and provide a glimpse into the processes going on in our bodies. My contemporary abstract paintings depict a Neoexpressionistic visual exploration of form, shape, and color that depict tension of ambiguity, paradox, contradiction and duality. My representational work draws heavily on my background as a BIPOC woman who grew up in Seattle, Washington and was influenced by Northwestern Native American art forms. I use my 20+ years a cellist and harmonica player to imbue my love of music into my pieces. Animals, objects of importance to me, and human figures have a spiritual element that are expressed boldly in my artwork and portray my cultural identity. My charcoal works reflect my focus on family, quilting, sewing, cycling, and water-based sports such as kayaking and fishing on the American and Sacramento Rivers which are nearby my home.

What Makes Me Stand Out

Now that I am back in business with new medium and large abstract paintings I am focusing on entering online juried exhibitions and competitions at regional, national, and international galleries since COVID and my mobility restrictions prevent me from participating more fully in the fine art world. It allows my work to be seen in the art world with more exposure to collectors and potential buyers. The online galleries are showing my work and asking me to do solo shows of my abstract work with the new media. In response, I have created a body of large contemporary artworks and need to set up a website with a full portfolio of my works and participate in fine art websites that sell directly to collectors.

Challenges that I face

As a BIPOC woman working in the white male dominated fine art world, it has been difficult to get seen and represented by a gallery. Not until winter of 2020 did BIPOC people finally start being acknowledged in the fine art world. The Black Lives Matters movement and race riots brought their lack of representation in art to be realized. Art in America did an issue May/June of 2021 profiling African American artists and photographers documenting images from black lives using figurative genres. BIPOC artists working in the abstract genre are still not getting gallery representation or national/international recognition. I would like to change this.