JANA  KOLOWRAT  LAXA 

 

Jana Laxa emigrated in 1968 from Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) with her family and settled in Massachusetts. With her roots deeply set in old Europe, love for tradition and fine arts have never left her. She has experienced not only changes in the culture of times, but also the culture of two countries. In her teens, she was the painter for the family’s business - decorating plaster replicas of gingerbread cookies. After graduating from Belmont High School, Jana attended Massachusetts College of Art for two years.

 

While raising a family, Jana concentrated on the European style of Reverse Glass Painting using Acrylic paints. In 1995 she moved to Hamilton, NY, resumed her college education at Colgate University, and received a BFA in painting from Syracuse University in 2003. It was at this time Jana started to experiment with watercolors. Her goal was to illustrate children stories her mother wrote. By using delicate watercolors Jana hoped to capture the tales’ ephemeral quality.

 

Jana has shown her paintings at the Syracuse Stage Gallery, Stanley Theater’s Red Room Gallery, Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute Gallery, Kirkland Art Center, Hamilton Library, MAD Art in Hamilton, New Woodstock Library, Manlius Public Library, Onondaga Library Gallery, St. Peter’s Church in Cazenovia, View Gallery Old Forge, and at The Colgate Inn.

 

Over the past several years Jana has attended many watercolor classes and workshops, and is especially grateful for the insights of Ralph Murray, Eric Wiegardt, Frank Webb, Katherine Kernan, Barbara Kellogg, Drayton Jones, and Tom McCobb. Jana has taught art at a local correctional facility, and is currently teaching watercolor in Hamilton.

 

Jana feels fortunate to live in a small town surrounded by fields, woods, and brooks – with undisturbed natural color and beauty. For the past several years she has been able to travel to her homeland and other countries, reexamining her love of the charming small villages with their churches and medieval buildings. While traveling Jana enjoys sketching and photographing scenes for later use in her studio. In Hamilton, she enjoys capturing the beautiful landscape around the village and Colgate University.

 

As the subject matter and Jana’s style continue to evolve, she maintains a central goal: to capture the viewer’s attention through beauty, technique which include the unpredictable blends of color this medium offers.