Artist Spotlight: Jane Gray From the Working Artist Archives

Over the years, I have coached literally thousands of artists around the world.

Jane Gray was my first! She joined my very first live cohort of The Working Artist, taught in a tiny British gallery.

Her story still fascinates me.

Not only is she an incredibly inspiring artist whose paintings look to energies beyond her vision, but she is a teacher herself. Jane teaches the art of active imagination and she inspires other artists to develop confidence within themselves.

“In the world today it’s hard to have the confidence to show people who you really are,” Jane explains. She urges artists to have the faith to paint for themselves and not just for the market.

However, she says her confidence truly deepened after working with Crista Cloutier through The Working Artist. “Confidence comes from people who believe in you and this is what Crista gave me,” she explains.

Jane went to art school in England before living in Africa for 34 years. Whilst bringing up her children, she kept her pen to paper, but it wasn’t until 1995 that she seriously starting experimenting with paint.

Upon meeting Crista and hearing about The Working Artist, she had no hesitations. She had previously struggled with refining her thoughts and ideas and condensing them into bios and statements. She didn’t know how to talk about her work or what direction to take her career.

She began to think more carefully about having a sense of direction. “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re never going to get there,” she tells me.

Crista helped her to move forward with focus by asking her to write down what she wanted from her art, where she was and where she wanted to be in ten year’s time.

Once Crista helped her to see what was possible, Jane began the exciting journey toward her goals.

Within the first six months after completing The Working Artist, Jane sold 52 paintings!

Her confidence continued to grow as her career expanded. She was accepted into the Royal Institute and the Society for Women’s Artists. She also made through the first round of the esteemed Threadneedle Prize. In the years that followed, she secured a remarkable corporate sale to a company in China — 96 framed paintings and 64 mounted works.

One of her proudest achievements was her acceptance to the esteemed Society of Graphic Fine Art. Jane believes in the importance of drawing and the Society’s focus on this skill is what made it so important to her. Right after submitting, she found out she got in that very same day!

Jane often credits her time in The Working Artist with helping her find the confidence to move forward with clarity.

She now continues to develop new series and larger works on canvas, while preparing for future exhibitions in London.

To see Jane’s beautiful work of spirit and learn why we are so in love with her, please visit http://janegrayart.com/

Written by Crista Cloutier, artist mentor + founder of The Working Artist. (learn more about Crista here)