Paintings by Jan Prisco featured at Portola Art Gallery in April

“Retroscape: Memories of the Sea” — paintings by artist Jan Prisco — is on featured at the Portola Art Gallery (75 Arbor Rd.) in April. The exhibit highlights wave scapes and seascapes inspired by local Peninsula locations. A reception for the artist will be held on Saturday, April 15, from 1:00 – 4:00 pm.

Jan creates paintings of local California landscapes and seascapes in oil and pastel. Her favorite place to do this is in nature, especially at the Pacific Ocean, where she strives to represent the beauty of the ocean in her paintings. She will admit that she is a little addicted to painting the drama of waves, as well as the healing and cleansing connection that the ocean provides to us.

On days when there are especially strong waves hitting the Peninsula coast, Jan has been known to drive from Pacifica’s Rockaway Beach down to Pescadero, capturing on camera the beautiful movement and energy at each site. She has also spent hours at the coast in quiet contemplation, studying waves and taking photos needed to finish her paintings due to the constant motion of the water. Her collectors have told her that when they look at her wave paintings, they can feel the ocean air and the sound of the waves crashing.

In addition to exhibiting her work at the Portola Art Gallery in Menlo Park, Jan has taught pastel painting for many years and was this month appointed as the Bay Area representative for the Pastel Society of the West Coast. An award winning artist, Jan is currently an instructor at the Pacific Art League and has taught plein air workshops for Filoli, as well as studio classes for Atherton Arts Foundation and University Art.