Jane Orton

I was born and raised in Coventry in the UK towards the end of the Second World War. Being the centre of the car making industry, Coventry was especially targeted during the Blitz. I used to play on bombed building sites. This beginning has had a profound effect on my life.
Currently I live and work in Camden Town in London.
Spending time with my father on his allotment as he grew fruit and vegetable s and absorbing his deep knowledge about nature, plant life and birds is what has inspired me in all my work. He was a production engineer and a draftsman who had a deep interest in drawing. I loved to watch him rendering a sketch of a building in pen and ink.
I also spent many hours learning to sew, knit and crochet with my mother and so have always had leanings towards textile arts and the crafts generally.
Through my parents’ interests, I learnt to explore many different media and techniques: pastels and acrylics, etching and printing processes, dyes and wax resist techniques all of which I now incorporate into my work.

I studied life drawing with the Visionary Artist Cecil Collins whose art and teaching style was inspirational. He used to say to his students; I want you to lie face down on the floor.’ And many of us were confused about this, but in the end we did it. Then he would say ‘Creativity is total submission.’ Before the model took up a pose, he played us music and with the life model we would move to it, embodying the action of drawing. He taught ‘about the differing ‘speeds’ of all the implements; pens, reeds, brushes, pencils, quills, chalks etc etc and how we would resonate with some more than others according to their speed. Tuning in to the whole body when making art was always paramount. He taught about working fast and free and about using subtle gradations of inks, conte and charcoal and about so much more.
Acclaimed Batik artist, Noel Dyrenforth taught me the skills of wax resist dying using traditional tools and dyes and how to layer and build the dyes and bleach areas back.
When I was teaching arts and crafts, the many children I taught to paint and draw, and to cut and stick around my kitchen table taught me how to be curious, bold and unselfconscious.
All of these lessons and skills I am still learning.

In the 70’s and 80’s and 90’s, I sold my own knitwear designs in Cambridge and Camden Market. At this time, I was also exhibiting my artwork in many joint exhibitions around Cambridge and London and in mid Wakes at the MOMA with fellow artists. My works are to be found in many homes.

With a thriving practice in Counselling to keep me occupied, and children to teach, I gave up the, sometimes, wearisome round of fairs, markets and exhibitions. Now I have more time to spare, I am so happy to be able to show my work in this online gallery and others to many people around the world and hope that you will enjoy what I have done.