jan rimerman
JAN RIMERMAN
Jan Rimerman is inspired by the evolution of changing forms in light & shadow. The various textures & layers of color hidden & revealed in the different lights of the day & season are part of Jan’s unique style. The work presents a new perspective each time it’s viewed.
An underpainting of powdered charcoal gelled onto heavy watercolor paper gives the finished painting a hint of visual textural mystery. As many as 22 layers of transparent fluid acrylic paint are applied on the initial powdered charcoal foundation in which there are usually 3 hidden turtles.
Jan started working with color when she was four and the story hasn’t ended. All through school she was “the artist”. Her formal art education began at Willamette University in Oregon where she majored in art, theatre, English, and education. Carl Hall & Robert Hess were her mentors who taught her many challenging drawing, painting & sculpture techniques. These men were also instrumental in teaching her life lessons which she utilizes up to this day. She studied art history in England & continued graduate work at the University of Washington & Portland State University.
Rimerman’s career as an arts educator taught her skills in organization, how to work with people and to set and fulfill goals. Jan pioneered the Art After Hours program for high school students & community members. Adolescents and adults took evening classes together creating unique connections as well as concentrated art studies which couldn’t occur in a regular classroom.
As the Open Show Director at the Lake Oswego Festival of the Arts for 25 years, she worked with 800 artists, and over 1500 pieces of artwork and installed it in 58 hours for a three-day community festival. Plants were brought in to accent the artwork. Demonstrations, music receptions, and awards events were held in the exhibit.
Jan is a motivational speaker, technique instructor, curator & juror of shows. She gives presentations to the community about her international adventures entitled: “Through Artist’s Eyes”, raising money and awareness for Tibetan orphans, the Ecuadorian Rain Forest & Tanzanian Safe Water Filters. Other altruistic projects include The International Land Fill Project, Kows for Kids, Children First, Audubon, Susan G, Koman Foundations, and Turtle Head Start Program. In 2017, Jan & Dave Haslett developed “Rock…Paper…Turtle…Art for Wetlands” raising awareness & money for the Western Pond Turtle’s habitat in the Nyberg Wetlands in collaboration with The Wetlands Conservancy. Her book, “Turtle Tales”, raises awareness of turtles and their habitats around the world.
Her paintings are exhibited at the Coos Art Museum, & Lightcatcher Art Museum, Portland Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Fairweather Gallery, & Rain Spark Gallery. Jan is the Art Exhibition Director for the community-based program, Lake Oswego Reads, the director of the seasonal Rain Spark Gallery & the Visual Arts Director of the Lakewood Center.
