Janice Schultz
About
Art has always been a part of my life. My mother and great aunt were artists. I always enjoyed art in school and when I became a teacher, art was an integral part of my curriculum and assignments. As a principal, and later district administrator, I promoted art in the classrooms specifically supporting the disciplined based art program sponsored by The Getty Museum. I have taught after school art classes for students and adults for many years.
About 5 years before I retired, I started taking art classes, first at Harbor College and then Otis College of Art. Abstract artists Bonita Helmer (Otis), and Craig Antrim, (Harbor College) have been influential teachers and mentors . While I paint both representational and abstract pieces, my true love is abstract painting.
Texture, implied or physical, is a common element in all of my work. I love to experiment and push materials and ideas. My painting tools include chicken wire, garden fencing, masonry tools and strawberry baskets. I spend hours at the hardware store looking at building materials and wondering how I can incorporate them into my art making. In my paintings I try to interpret or respond to an idea or an emotion, but most of all I try to make something beautiful.
Circles became a recurring motif in my work. Initially, I saw circles as representing wholeness, hope and eternity. Later as I began experimenting with new painting techniques I began to deconstruct the circles. They look a little beaten up: still hopeful but a little more worldly. As I have continued to experiment with my process I have added modeling paste, gels and garden fencing. Geometric shapes still appear in much of my work, but they are distorted and stretched, chopped and flattened. They are evolved; as have I.
My work has been in local shows, including CA101, Palos Verdes Art Center, Resin Gallery, Shock Boxx and Newport City Art Show.In 2020 I participated in the LA Art Show and I was fortunate enough to have sold 4 of the 5 pieces I had displayed. I also participate in LAArt Shows in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
I am a member of the Los Angeles Art Association, Palos Verdes Art Center Artist Open Group and The Artists’ Studio of Palos Verdes. I have received a few awards including First Place in Manhattan Beach Art Show (2017) and Best Mixed Media at the Palos Verdes Art Center Summer Show. (2018) and The Kathy Reis Memorial Award for Painting at the Winter Show 2024 , Palos Verdes Art Center.