Whether to Change Print

JANEEN HEATH EXPERIMENTAL ABSTRACT ARTIST Janeen Heath is a lifelong Northern California resident and currently lives in Danville, California with her husband Tomm and three dogs. She was introduced to art and music at an early age by her father, Guido Ferraro who was an accomplished oil painter and musician. Unfortunately he died when Janeen was 10 years old but the gift he left her was the passion for art and music. During her teens and twenties she attended concerts at venues in San Francisco and the Bay Area. She frequented Winterland and The Fillmore and enjoyed the bands of that era such as the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Janis Joplin. Janeen’s art was heavily influenced by the psychedelic poster and album art created by Stanley Mouse and Mouse Studios. Janeen would use wood as her medium and she carved and painted intricate designs influenced by the artistry on her album covers. As years went on the demands of raising a family and running a business did not allow much time for art. It wasn’t until after her Mother passed away 5 years ago she realized that now was the time to pursue her passion. Most of her paintings might be labeled “abstract” and are created without a preconceived idea of the outcome. Janeen somewhat rejects being labeled as a specific type of artist. She relates more to the description of “experimental artist” as she loves to search and discover different diverse mediums and textures to use in her paintings. She also describes herself as having a split personality. Her love of the freedom of letting paint and mediums be free and flow from her mind in a meditative state is equal to the love of fine details and the perseverance she shows in some of her very detailed paintings and works. She is not limited to painting though as she sculpts in clay and enjoys pyrography, as seen on this year's wine barrel displayed in the Wente Tasting Room for this year's “Barrel Wine Trail” event. Whether she is cooking or creating art, her method and motto is “No recipes, no rules and loud music”. The artwork that she created for the Wente Artist Series labels show how art, music and wine are intertwined. She relates the finely detailed labels she created with the notion that they represent the influence of the album cover art she loved.