Ian and Leah by Janae Lehto

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Available Sizes inches / cm
Petite $57.50
Small $69.00
Medium $86.25
Large $115.00

Description charcoal portrait from photograph

Janae Lehto, Mebane
Member Since November 2007
Artist Statement

I've always considered myself an artist, whether or not I was actively pursuing it. My dream was to become a starving artist, but as this became a reality after receiving an art degree, I decided to do what many people do-find a regular 9 to 5 job.

My current struggle is to continue being an artist while working full time and raising children. While some people restart their art career after retirement, I don’t want to wait that long. I'm always looking at life as if it were a still life, portrait, landscape, etc worth painting.

Even though landscape paintings are what I prefer, I don't like to paint them. When I look at landscapes, the details in them (the people/animals/flowers/leaves), are what inspire me to paint.

By "paint", I'm using a broad term since it really depends on the subject. I mostly use colored pencils/watercolors for florals, charcoal for portraits, and charcoal/watercolor for animals.

Our children keep my husband and me very busy but highly entertained! Somehow my husband managed to build a studio for me - from scratch and all by himself! (Well, my "then" 2 year old may have helped some). Feel free to browse my blog for photos of the inside.