About Jane
Jane grew up immersed in art.
Born in Kenya, Africa, she moved to Devon in 1953.
Her mother, Paddy Langworthy, was a fashion artist in her early life before becoming a nationally-renowned fine artist, giving Jane plenty of inspiration from a young age.
Pencil and paper were never far away from Jane’s hands throughout her life. From her Devonshire childhood to the other side of the world with her Australian husband, and returning to England to raise her young family in Hampshire, small sketches and hurried paintings complemented her lifelong written journalling.
She would document holidays in paint and ink, rather than celluloid. After marrying and having two boys, the family holidays would allow her the time and peace to set up her easel on the banks of a river, the wild countryside of Dartmoor or the alluring landscapes of France to capture the scenery around her.
Yet despite her ardent passion for artistry, it was purely for personal satisfaction.
A request to buy a piece from a friend, coupled with her family’s continual encouragement to begin exhibiting and promoting her work afforded her the confidence to present her work to the world. A small side income to her secretarial work rapidly blossomed, and within a decade, she was a full-time artist.
Initially, her specialty was natural history – feathers, beetles, birds and pets in miniature. These exquisite, if diminutive creations in watercolour captured the finest details down to individual hairs and whiskers, but far beyond that, and infinitely more appreciated by the clients with their personal connections to and relationships with the subjects, they conveyed the personalities their beloved pets.
Continually challenging herself, she explored different media, from oils and acrylics to pastels and pencil, and digressed in subject matter also. The landscapes of her beloved Devon from moorland to coastline were a captivating inspiration, as too were the scenes of timeless Devonshire life; its farmers and livestock, its forests and valleys, the traditions and nuances of the rural West Country.
Jane’s renown expanded, placing her paintings upon walls in private collections throughout the UK and Europe and in America, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan.
On arriving in Devon, Jane lived at Lydford and founded the very successful group of local artists known as ‘CanzArt’ which exhibited throughout Devon and into Cornwall over the next five years, prior to her departure to live near Chagford.
With her own success secured, a steady stream of word-of-mouth and organic commissions discovering her creations, Jane looked to the community around her, inspired by those who were, in turn, inspired by her. She began the Lydford Art Group which later became the Brentor Art group, and was invited to teach in Manaton from which, after 14 years, she has recently retired, establishing the successful group, The Gidleigh Painters. Though having never taught art before, the overwhelmingly positive response of her first-ever class offered her the confidence to continue presenting workshops, as well as providing private tuition.
Regular workshops and demonstrations to art groups have scattered the last several years, and the appreciation and gratitude she receives continue to grow.
Jane continues to create myriad artwork from her home studio, with regular local, regional and national exhibitions alongside the annual Devon Open Studios.
testimonials
This picture is Meg and you have been so clever to get her looks and character on paper. It has pride of place in the hall of my home and is greatly admired by everyone.
I am deeply impressed that you are able to create such a life-like portrait of her. Many congratulations on your skill.
COMMISSIONS & ARTWORKS
To visit Jane, see examples of her work or discuss your commission, please visit her contact page:
