“Celebrate” – Opening Reception November 14th

Chelsea Gallery is hosting very special event, “Celebrate”, an Opening Reception featuring native Chelsea Artist Jan Dorer. Jan is an extraordinarily talented acrylic painter who has been perfecting her art for over four decades.  She paints on paper and occasionally includes collage for special textured effects. Her current work is conceptual in nature however this show includes work from Dorers’ private collection, never shown or for sale before This is also the first time that the Gallery will be featuring Jan’s giclée prints, both framed and unframed.

Please join us to Celebrate Jan’s phenomenal body of work!

Opening Reception:  Saturday, November 14, 2009 from 6:00 – 9:00 PM

Jan boasts a successful 45-year career that has included first-place awards at numerous competitions and art shows. With husband Gil as her business partner, Jan began her storied career showing and selling paintings at the early Ann Arbor Art Fairs in 1963.

Jan’s paintings have been described as abstract and impressionistic, with bold colors used in naturalistic palettes. The pieces presented in “Celebrate” represent several phases of maturation and change in Jan’s work.

Husband Gil described how Jan often pointed out unique or striking landscape features in their travels that he would notice months later in new paintings. The influence of a trip to Alaska can be seen in one of Jan’s signature pieces, Ice Flow. Giclee prints of Ice Flow will be available at Chelsea Gallery.

“I sincerely believe that I paint what I paint because of who I am,” said Dorer. “I hope my work reflects the softness—and yet the boldness—the sensitivity of lines together with the strength of vivid color, sometimes a hint of realism buried in the sea of abstraction. Maybe this is who I am.”

The Dorers left their respective careers in teaching in the early ’70s to pursue art full time. The duo attended shows year ’round, exhibiting from Florida to Michigan, and until recently remained a fixture at the Ann Arbor Art Fairs, last showing at the South University show in 2008. Growing up in Oxford, Michigan as Jan Bovay, she and Gil met in Mt. Pleasant at Central Michigan University in 1952 where they both studied education. Jan and Gil have two children, Bob and Cyndy, and two grandchildren.

A number of original artworks from the Dorers’ private collection will be on display as well and available for sale.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

• National Arts Club Open Watercolor Competition, N.Y. Second Award ‘83.

• Salmagundi Open Competition, N.Y. Bonnard et Cie Award ‘85, 1st Place ‘86.

• American Artists Professional League Grand National Exhibition, N.Y. ‘84.

• National Society of Painters in Acrylic and Casein, N.Y. ‘83, ‘84, ‘85.

• Knickerbocker Artists Open Annual Competition, N.Y. ‘82, ‘83.

• Georgia Watercolor Membership Exhibition, GA. First Place Award ‘84.

• Dallas 500 Art Festival, Dallas, TX. First Place Award ‘84.

• Festival of the Masters, FL. Purchase Awards, Disney World Private Collection ‘83, ‘84.

• Boston Mills Art Festival, Peninsula, OH. First in Category, ‘87, ‘90, ‘92, ‘93, ‘98, ‘99, 2002, 2004. Best in Show, 2001.

• Art on the Square, Belleville, IL. Signature Award, 2002.

• Art on the Green, Hudson, OH. Best in Show, ‘98, 2000, 2002, 2003.

• St. Charles Art & Wine Festival, St. Charles, MO. Best in Show 2002.

• Painting accepted into the 135th Annual International Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society in New York, 2002.

• The Flora and Fauna Art Show – Ann Arbor, MI – 2006 Best of Show

• Levis Commons Fine Art Fair, Perrysburg, OH – 2006 Best of Show

Jan’s paintings have been featured on numerous covers of textbooks by Allyn and Bacon Publishing and West Publishing.  Her paintings have been purchased by more than fifty corporations as well as numerous private collectors both here and in thirteen foreign countries.