Janas Smith-Durkee
Janas is a visual artist based at McRae Studios in Orlando, FL. Janas holds a BFA/ MA in drawing and painting from Ball State University, Muncie, IN.
Throughout her life, she has pursued her art practice in diverse ways, including teaching, set building, renovating houses, and creating decorative furniture. She currently paints in oil or acrylic and creates dimensional paper work she calls “Drawing with Scissors”.
Janas finds inspiration from her childhood in Central Indiana. As a girl, she had a vivid imagination and created stories about her animals especially her dogs, and her pig Henrietta. Janas takes the sweetness of those memories and with expressive strokes and vivid color, she pays homage to rural life.
In addition to her farm-inspired paintings, Janas paints people. She considers painting as a conversation, and she seeks to bring out something hidden in them. Janas has been in many juried shows over the past 30 years and is collected by private collectors across the country. She has won awards for her work and was a Eli Lilly Foundation Creative Renewal Fellow in 2005.
Instagram: @smithdurkeeart
