JANLY JAGGARD

Born in Suffolk, England 1949

Art college for Foundation Studies in Ipswich prepared me for a Diploma of Art & Design in Ceramics at West of England College of Art, Bristol, graduating in 1971.
In 1993 I emigrated to The Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, USA where I continue to teach art. I teach drawing, painting, vitreous enamel at Beverley Street Studio School since 2001. This role as a teacher has made me a better student, learning from so many different sources about the significance and importance of the Arts in this increasingly de-personalized world.

In October 2014, I returned to my East Anglian home in England, but specifically to Norwich to study for a Masters Degree in Fine Art at Norwich University of the Arts. My focus has been on painting, which so pointedly relates to my method of working with vitreous enamel to create enamel paintings.

About 6  years ago I formed a support group with 5 other women artists. We named ourselves Group 6. We meet several times a year to discuss our work and in this way have mutual support and dialogue with an invited mentor to whom upon whom we bestow great respect. In 2025 we will have our third group exhibition but we all exhibit as individuals as well. 

I have also been judge at several regional art exhibitions. and exhibit my work both nationally and internationally in both painting and enamel work.

In 2018 and again in 2022 I attended a residency at Virginia Centre for the Creative Arts,.In 2022, I was the recipient of a residency sponsored by the Karen Shea and Gabe Silverman Endowment for Fellowships at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

In 2023 I was privileged to be invited to join some of the best enamelers in USA for a 5 days residency at Pocosin Art Center in North Carolina. 

Statement

I am a painter and an enameler who investigates the technical differences that occur between the mediums I use. Creative processes and materiality are the focus of my work. Robert Ryman, the American artist who is known for iconic monochromic paintings simply wanted to know “what paint will do” and what better reason could there be?

Oil or acrylic paint and vitreous enamel are three mediums that allow me to explore technical and aesthetic possibilities as I work towards a sense of resolve. I begin with some sense of  a loose reference to the landscape; I build layers that either partially or completely obscure; sometimes I want layers to be revealed. I draw or sgraffito through layers of wet paint or dusted enamel; I use a creative process whereby the outcome is the result of dialogue between me and the work.  I have always felt that Richard Diebenkorn explained this concept best when he referred to the notion that the work seems to “breathe independently” when nothing to needs to change.

Vitreous enamel is powdered glass that is applied in sections and layers, sometimes using stencils with each color requiring a separate firing. The maximum size copper plate I can use (12”x12”) is determined by the size of my kiln. The medium offers “what happens if ?” opportunities but also has several limitations. In contrast, working with oil or acrylic paint on canvas or panel allows me to choose the size of the work and each brushstroke is exactly as I make it; nothing changes those choices or my actions because the work is always under my specific control. However, a copper plate dusted with vitreous enamel has multiple kiln firings at 1500F and is out my control while the work is subjected to extreme heat. Only experience teaches me the probable outcome. My intuition must be fully engaged for a successful outcome.

Janly Jaggard, 2024