Portrait by: Gene Sasse 2009

Stories from the Art: BJ Lane

“Perspective if all about you, it’s about how you feel and how you see... then of course people will interpret your piece on  their own from their personal  perspective.”

A dynamic woman with experience in many mediums, BJ Lane creates with singular focus. Her life is exceptionally busy, yet she has a knack for noticing precious minutes and hours where she can be productive. Her home is filled with paintings, sculptures, drawings and encaustics that mark moments she was able to create her art.

Drawing from a young age, BJ had her first solo watercolor show when she was 19. Shortly after, she met the love of her life in Los Angeles and they started a family. With a child in the house, watercolors were too time consuming, so she changed direction and began to sculpt. Using her little girl as a model she invested herself in clay and sketching. As time went on, and one child became three, BJ focused on her family yet still made time for her art. Painting in a studio close to home, she also kept a sketch pad in her purse and a piece of clay in her pocket for those times she was unable to get to her studio. She was always able to create art in one form or another: hundreds of sketches, tiny figurines, replicas of her children, they flew from her hands on a regular basis.

When a last minute invitation to visit her sister in Germany presented itself, BJ was quick to prep her canvases, pack her oil sticks and ready her camera for a whirlwind 3 week adventure. During the all too brief time in Europe, she painted for hours each day. Plein air oil paintings appeared as she sat on street corners in Paris, sidewalks in Amsterdam, and quiet avenues in Germany. She sketched on trains and buses, and just as at home, took time to look around and capture the beauty of her surroundings. Her camera was never still and she came home with thousands of photographs that would later become dozens of lovely pieces of art. Seizing the moments and creating her own kind of beauty comes naturally to her, abroad or at home. Regardless of where she is, BJ makes her art.

Drawn to color and movement, both of which are evident in her work, and with the addition of digital possibilities, BJ has added yet another venue for her boundless creative energy. While on drives with her family or friends – on freeways or in parking lots, in a waiting room, restaurants, or in her home – she captures the ordinary with an extraordinary talent.

BJ balances the needs of the moment with available tools and makes beauty wherever she finds herself. Her life journey is captured in her creations, and those quiet still moments that are filled with beauty are forever caught, enjoyed, and lovingly shared with others.

“Passing Through” the Seine | Oil on Canvas 2009

Curator: Gene Sasse
Writer: Laurie Morrison