Janet Bothne

Somewhere at the intersection of “gut” and “brain” lies my artistic practice. It’s about initially letting go of control and then slowly making sense of the chaos to strike a balance with color, composition and contrast. It’s a puzzle from which I still derive joy after decades of painting. The core of my passion is working with color and color contexts. I don’t think I could say it better than Oscar Wilde once did - “Mere color unspoiled by meaning and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways.” There are times when "I lean" in to what seems to be developing early on, and follow the cues that result in an abstract landscape or floral, but I still want things to remain loose enough to spark the viewer's imagination. In more recent years, complexity has become a concern as well. The best compliment I ever receive, is when a collector who has owned one of my works for years tells me, "I still discover something new in it all the time." Works that can engage on that level are my goal.

Bothne was guided on an artistic path from a young age by her teachers and mentors—often a scenario that leads to early success followed by burnout. In fact, she dropped out of art school after two years. After leaving college, she many unexpected turns—real estate sales, retail management, antique restoration, disc jockeying, and even driving a bus. When she relocated from Boston to Los Angeles in 1996, she felt compelled to return to her calling as a painter. She began with detailed realism in oils. However, the need to incorporate imagination was evident in her quirky early works. She explored unconventional subject matter, attempting to balance the familiar with the enigmatic. As time went on, she discovered greater joy in loosening her technique. But the time spent searching for subject matter was time taken away from her true passion: the practice of layering color upon color and observing the ever-changing results. She had an epiphany—color should BE the subject matter. That instinct was validated when her series of color-focused abstract diptychs, “Long Division” was accepted into the L.A. County Museum’s Sales Gallery. Since that time, she has created hundreds of vibrant abstract works that joyfully express her rekindled spark. "You need to find the confidence to let go and allow your materials lead the way.” Bothne relocated to New Mexico in 2013 and currently works from her studio in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque.

2-D, Painting (all materials)