Today we’d like to introduce you to Janet Felts
Hi Janet, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I was child, people would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I’d say; ‘a famous artist”. I was born into a non-art family. I was the only one of four siblings that drew. My parents didn’t encourage me and when it came time for college, they didn’t want me to follow my dream. If you know artists, we can be a little rebellious, so I just didn’t go to college. Many years later, I went to college on my own dime. I have three Art Degrees: An Associate of Advertising Art, BFA in Art Education and a Master’s in Art Education.
I started my art career as a Graphic Artist for the State of Tennessee. This was a very fun and rewarding job with a very pitiful paycheck before computers. I found out I could double my pay as a teacher and went to work in Nashville at Hillsboro Comprehensive High School teaching Commercial Art and Graphic Arts. Then my husband’s job took us to Atlanta for 17 years where I taught High School in Gwinnett County outside of Atlanta. The last five years I had the privilege of teaching again in Technical Education teaching Digital Media & Design and Animation.
I retired in 2010, and I was determined to make that dream come true. All that time teaching art, I never did my own art. I went to workshops through the school system and summer workshops at Savannah College of Art Design for Art Educators that kept my skills up. I was always demonstrating and lecturing in front of the students, but not actually creating my own art. I had a little studio upstairs in my house that I used for class assignments or projects, so I was ready, but it wasn’t happening.
My turning point, an artist friend told me if I was going to get serious about my art, I had to get my studio out of the house. She told me about Tannery Row Art Colony in Buford, GA. I applied and I was accepted. I moved in and started creating art. I started making friends and I had mentors. There were shows, competitions and they introduced me to “Plein Air Painting”! I felt like a real artist for the first time in my life. I remember the first time someone asked what I did, and I answered after a big breath, “I am an Artist”. We moved to Erin, Tennessee in 2012. I rented a little storefront for my studio on Main Street for ten years. I painted a lot of commissions and several of my own creations. I’ve won several competitions, regional, national and international. I’ve had solo shows, shows with artist’s friends, and group shows. I remember having someone come up to me and say, let me introduce you to ‘j Felts’. They were so excited and said, “you’re J Felts”? Oh, I felt like that famous artist I so wanted to be all those years ago. It was music to my ears. I was even asked for my autograph one time at an art workshop I was attending, for a person who followed my Blog.
I moved to La Vergne, TN two years ago and my studio is again in my home. I might never be that famous artist I wanted to be. The most famous, I guess I’ll ever be, if it’s measured by who can recall my name, would be the students I’ve taught. I had so many students who came back to visit me, the many notes I’ve kept thanking me and so many memories of accomplishments in my classroom. I’ve had a wonderful career in Art, I’m just not that “Famous Artist” I had planned on being.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
First obstacles. It’s difficult to be an artist in a non-art family. I felt my parents thought my drawing was a waste of time. My teachers were very encouraging. When I married, my husband didn’t even know I could draw. He was fascinated. After our youngest went to kindergarten, he was the one who suggested the Associate Degree in Advertising Art. Then there was the obstacle of money to pay for the program. I couldn’t get a grant, and I didn’t want to go into debt. I started teaching Tole Painting Classes and saved enough money for a two-year program. The next obstacles, baby sitting while I went to school. Thank goodness for my friends, my mothers-in-law and understanding professors who allowed children in class. The other obstacle, scheduling of classes. Art studio classes are two and three hours, engineering classes are two hours and scheduled for the same time on the same day, every other year. It’s a two-year degree. I had to get permission to go to the studio class for an hour, leave and go to the engineering drawing class and leave early to get back to the studio class.
Challenges, the biggest one, self-discipline. You must make yourself do it. The best advice was from my friend that told me to get a studio, and handle it like a job. I could not work out of my house. I have artist friends that do, but I couldn’t. I can now because I’ve been doing it for a while.
Another challenge for me is marketing, I’m a little shy. It’s hard for me to get someone’s attention and say ‘Hey, look at me and this is what I did”. You really need to be a outgoing.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Artist Statement:
I celebrate the beauty of life here in Tennessee through my artwork. People don’t take the time to look at their world, therefore, they just don’t see it as I do. I want my art to get people to really see. I want them to feel my love and appreciation of the land, the people, and our way of life, here in my home state of Tennessee. I want to ‘Celebrate Tennessee through my eyes, my art’, to share what I love.
Janet Felts
I work in many different media. My first love is drawing. I’m best known for my Pen and Ink drawings. I also paint with watercolor and acrylic. I’m a retired High School Art Teacher, you have to learn so many different media, how can I pick just one. I truly think you’re choice of media can enhance your subject matter. I also enjoy painting Plein Air with my friends.
I am a member of the Nashville Artist Guild, Murfreesboro Art League, Chestnut Group and a signature member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society.
What were you like growing up?
I was a creative child, and I loved to make things out of just about anything. I would take things out of the house and create a whole town in the gravel driveway. My brother supplied toy vehicles for my city streets. When Mother came home and pulled in the driveway where I had left my town unattended, she would drive right over it. She was an accountant and never appreciated my creative mind. She didn’t like her dishes, silverware, records and albums destroyed within minutes. I was like most children and could come up with a few pranks that managed to get my brother and me some parental guidance. I always hated it when he got in trouble because it was always my idea, he’ grew up to be an accountant. Mother might not have understood my creative mind, but she was the world’s best Girl Scout leader. She took the scouts camping and I can cook a whole meal over a campfire. I was big into scouting, loved camping and hiking. My family had a little tent camper and we loved the camping in the Smokies. On Sunday mornings I would walk with my Father in our woods before church. He taught me all about Mother Nature, and that was my sacred time. Our family liked to sing together and the four kids were all in the high school band. My husband and I met in the band, we now play in a dulcimer group.
I love Tennessee, my artwork is about Tennessee. I was born here, raised in Clarksville and attended Austin Peay State University. My family was and is very close. I was raised around dogs, cats, cows, we had 2 horses. I would sit in the field and draw our horses. We even had a monkey. I love animals and the great outdoors, I had a wonderful childhood .
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jfeltsart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/j_felts_art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jfeltsart/
