Painting EN PLEIN AIR – literally painting in open air – affords a great opportunity to study nature in all of its natural beauty and wonderful color.  Jane Clayton delights in the use of color and value that she sees while enjoying the elements of the weather in all seasons of the year. Jane has been an artist in the Farmington, New Mexico, area for a number of years.  She paints in the Four Corners area of the United States and at Cat Island in the Bahamas.  Jane does some studio work but she considers herself a plein air painter.  Her main emphasis is on color – while capturing the mood and feeling of a location through her impressionistic technique of transparent and opaque colors.  Jane works with acrylics, oils, oil pastel and watercolor.  Jane’s greatest joy of painting is the life long friends she has made through her art.

She studied basic design and sculpture at the University of Colorado in 1956-57 and attended evening art classes at Opportunity School in Denver, Colorado.  She has studied painting at San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico, as well as taking art workshops from artists who have influenced her work.

Jane is a signature member of National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society.  She is a member of Oil Painters of America, Plein Air Painters of New Mexico, Plein Air Artists Colorado, a founding member of the Plein Air Painters of the Four Corners as well as a member of the New Mexico Water Color Society. She exhibits her artwork in local, regional and national shows.

She served on the Fine Arts Committee at San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico.  During that time she assisted that committee in the acquisition of artwork for the college’s permanent collection.