Enticing Cat - but not willing to move! In Cinque Terre Italy. S/B & Ink

Mon Amie - our precious little pal. S/B & WC

Olive, a rescue little cat living in the UK with dear friend. SB & WC (this was a commission, as I had never met Olive, but thanks to Andy and his photograthps, manaaged to capture her unique personality.)

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​Jan Lowe, AGRA
Impressionist & Realist Artist/Tutor & Judge

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BIO

I am a signatory artist with the Australian Guild of Realist Artists (AGRA), and a member for over 25+ years. I studied in Canada/US and hold a Degree in Fine Art.   Now work full-time as a professional artist/tutor/judge.  Had the privilege to be invited as a judge for art shows in Australia and for various online international art shows in the US.  As a realist artist, I work with Scratchboard, Watercolour on Claybord, Oil, and Pastel. 

Within my paintings, I endeavour to investigate the dynamics of the subjects, including the manipulation of their effects and movement. I aim to show nature at its most diverse, with colour and motion, telling a story that encourages creativity. My art is what I see and feel. Catching the vitality, emotion, passion, and movement and recording that moment, it’s always a very personal journey.  I  question the concept of motion, revealing an inherent awkwardness, as with my paintings of mischievous little cats, yes, showing a stillness for a few seconds!  What I wanted to achieve was to capture their individual, unique personality and nature that echoes our own vulnerabilities, establishing a link between the subject’s reality and that imagined by its conceiver.   My subjects are ones I know, places I have been and there is a special bond of how I felt for the place or creature.  Animals are so exacting, to capture them from life is a challenge, so I do finish my subject with my photographs within my studio.

My subjects, including our beautiful nature,  I find interesting and memorable.  My artworks have received recognition as a winning artist in Australia, Europe, Canada, and the US.  I have been so lucky to have been invited to hang in the US within the International Scratchboard Artists Society's annual shows –(invited) in Niagara Falls Gallery (Ontario, Canada), in the ISSA Scratchboard show in the US in Berea, Kentucky and Arizona and South Australia. Since COVID, I have mainly exhibited on the internet.  My Art features in international online competitions, receiving successes such as Best in Show, Best Paintings, Work of Excellence, 1st, 2nd & 3rd, Best Drawing in the UK, France, Australia, Germany, Canada, and the US.  My works have also been published in Europe, Canada and the US.

Exhibited solo and jointly since 2001, my last solo exhibition, in 2022, was held at the Victorian Artists Society Cato Gallery in Melbourne, Australia.  However, I regularly exhibit in Melbourne and participate in international online competitions, and I also feature in various publications in France, the UK, Germany, and the Czech Republic (Prague). 

Exhibiting and Awards:
I regularly exhibit internationally in Canada, the USA, the UK and Europe and have been very lucky to have won many awards internationally and locally for my scratchboard and watercolour works.  A list of awards is being updated and will be featured underneath this BIO.

Membership: I am a member of Australia Guild of Realist Artists (AGRA), now newly reformed; International Guild of Realism USA (IGOR), Queensland Wildlife Artists Society AU (QWASI), Pastel Society of Australia (PSA), International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA), Camelback Gallery Arizona USA, Circle Foundation of the Arts France (Featured Artist); Victorian Artist Society (Melbourne AU) and the oldest art society in Australia; Association of Animal Artists UK, Artists Society of Phillip Island, Phillip Island Contemporary Exhibition Space (PICES), Pastel Society of Victoria Australia (PSVA), Animal Artist Society UK, VAA UK, and others.

Working for the Art Community:  I believe in putting in and have for over 25 years worked as President, Editor, Treasurer, V President, and Councillor for AGRA for 17years, and am an active member with the new AGRA reinstated by Lulu (president) with an Australia wide council, and ensuring the Realist Artists in Australia has a permanent home. I am currently the Editor (Down under) for the International Society of Scratchboard Artists US from 2014-2019, former ISSA VP, and since then, as part of the Editorial team and look after Australia and New Zealand (Downunder) for ISSA.  Currently, the President of the Australian Pastel Society since November 2023, 
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Thank you for visiting our website www.janlowefineart.com. If you have any queries, you are welcome to drop a note to my email: [email protected].
​(phone (61) 0437878174.

​JAN LOWE, AGRA
My Statement

Within my paintings, I endeavour to investigate the dynamics of the subjects, including the manipulation of its effects and movement. My aim is to show nature at its most diverse, with colour and motion, telling a story that encourages creativity.  I am not guided by pressures of the outside world, my art is how I see my subjects, the feeling and the impact that place or creature had on me, its my story.

 What I endeavour to achieve is to capture the subjects unique personality and nature that echoes its own vulnerabilities, establishing a link between the subject’s reality and that imagined by its conceiver. 
This is the same for a painting of nature – capturing the colours, the mood of the time of day and the changes within the clouds and shadows.  Its how I felt at the time I witnessed the place or creature.

  I like to question the concept of motion, revealing an inherent awkwardness.  

Learn to see, and really appreciate what we see!