For Janine Dunn Wade, being named the Honored Artist of the 95th Annual Juried Art Show at Phillips’ Mill is a “dream come true.” While the Doylestown-based painter is proud of all of her achievements, being recognized by Phillips’ Mill as this year’s Honored Artist is one of the most meaningful to Janine. “I am going to be a little part of history,” she exclaims.
She still recalls the first time she entered the prestigious juried art show. It was 1995, and Janine had just moved to Bucks County from New York with her husband and children. As she became acclimated to the area, she learned about Phillips’ Mill: the reputation of the art show and its place in art history as the birthplace of Pennsylvania Impressionism. “I had to try to get in (the annual art show),” she recalls. “I can still remember walking down River Road in the pouring rain on my way to the opening reception, the first of many I attended. I was immediately drawn in.”
She was greeted at the door by members of the Art Committee, who were welcoming and warm, and invited her to join the Phillips’ Mill Community Association. She did not hesitate. She felt at home, and inspired. “Not only was I enthralled by the whole history of Phillips’ Mill, but the people were also so nice.”
Janine’s painting, a large pastel with bigger-than-life sunflowers, was accepted to the show that year, and she has had work accepted for 30 more years after that! An accomplished still life painter, she quickly points out how much her work has progressed over the years. She is currently working in oils as well as pastels, and has been exploring mixed media more recently. “I may start a piece with pastel pencils and then build layers from there,” she explains. “I may start with floral pieces and then jump into some fantasy with the deeper layers.”
She can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t creating art. “I have always loved to draw and paint. I was the kind of kid who would take out a flashlight after my parents thought I was asleep, just so I could stay up and draw,” she recalls. And she hasn’t stopped since.
Janine Dunn Wade is represented by the Patricia Hutton Galleries in Doylestown, where she lives with her family. Born in New York City, she received her B.F.A. from Villanova University in 1981, and also studied abroad in Paris, Italy and Mexico. Janine’s work has been widely exhibited, and she has received awards from Phillips’ Mill, the Coryell Gallery, and the American Impressionist Society, among others.
In Her Words
“Painting is a conversation.
The subject, the paint, and the artist get involved in a dialogue. There is an ebb and flow. The artist must bend to the direction the painting has decided on. I love Bonnard’s viewpoint that ‘the precision of naming takes away from the uniqueness of seeing.’ If the mind cannot make assumptions, the eye can see so much more freely. Thus the heart can respond unbound.
There is so much more in paint.
In paint, you can relive a passage of time. In paint, you experience dynamic rhythm, color and sheer joy. In paint, the entire artistic process is revealed at one moment, unlike in music, theatre and literature, where it unfolds over time. In paint, the human spirit can soar, emotionally, visually and in the inherent wholeness of being.
I work to connect with a specific moment in space and time. My intention is to see shapes of color in space and arrange them into something visually exciting with a touch of mystery and a ton of emotion. My perspective is always changing, and so is the world. New visions, new problems, new solutions. Painting sustains my soul.”
— Janine Dunn Wade
