Jan Norsetter Artist Statement:
I paint in oils and gouache. My work consists of landscape, still life, and rosemaling. I have been painting and drawing most of my life. I paint outside in every season, surrounded by a world that imbues my work with a sense of place— painting close to home in Wisconsin and on travels in the US and overseas in France, Ireland, Italy, Norway, and Scotland. I am in awe of the ordinary beauty around me. I studied art in college, graduating with BS, MA, and MFA degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in fine art and art education. In addition to painting, I teach landscape painting and rosemaling workshops.
I recently finished painting a series of 366 small gouaches, posting them on social media every day for a year and a day. It began innocently enough, took on a life of its own, and became a personal quest by the end of the year. I’m still gathering photo references during my daily walks, and painting most days, shifting between larger oil paintings and the smaller gouache paintings, in the studio or en plein air. Every day is different in large or subtle ways. Wisconsin has a beauty all its own.