Birthplace
Janice Robinson was born in Greenwich, Connecticut and raised in Darien, Connecticut.

Education
University of Connecticut, 1962-1963; Southampton College of LI University, BA, BFA Painting & Drawing 1980 (SCL). Early Background in Photography and mixed media (Textile soft environments, 3-D wall hangings)

Exhibitions and Shows
June 1976 Group Exhibitions, Brecknock Hall, Greenport, NY; Channel Gallery, Greenport NY
December 1976 Group Exhibition, Custer Institute, Southold NY
1979 Group Exhibitions, Greenport Cultural Resource Center, Greenport, NY; “The Artist’s Eye”, Stirling Basin Community Arts Center, Greenport, NY
1980 BFA Show, Fine Arts Gallery of Southampton College, Southampton, NY
September 1980 Group Exhibition, Burnside Gallery, Greenport, NY
February 1981 Group Exhibition, (Paintings and Drawings) Southampton College of L.I. University, Southampton, NY
1981 Juried Show, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY (John Russell, New York Times, juror)
1981 Group Exhibition, Gallery East, East Hampton, NY
1985 Group Exhibition, The Burnside Gallery, Greenport, NY
July 2004 Juried Show, “Boats” East End Arts Council, Riverhead, NY
July 2004 Show, “Artists’ Sketchbooks” Greenport Library, Greenport, NY
August 2004 Show, “Scenes from Italy”, Galerie Nouvelle European & American Contemporary Art, Southold, NY

Personal Statement
From an early age I loved color, using whatever materials I could get my hands on (ask my mother). I had a camera with me from the time I was 8 years old. After 5 years of art school I spent 20 years doing photography as well as drawing and painting still life and interiors. But painting with oils, I can mix the colors I want—they offer flexibility and spontaneity. If I am doing a drawing, I use many different pencils to create texture and depth.

I am attracted to stone, yet I am not a sculptor. Stones are the building blocks of ancient societies. For me, they become part of the people who have come before. Hopefully the viewer is able to feel some sense of these people “within the walls” in the Italian paintings. Formerly a painter of interiors/still life, I found it impossible to not focus on the landscape while in Italy. Previous paintings included still life with Victorian objects, or moody Victorian architectural elements in interior settings. While I seldom paint figures in these settings, hopefully one feels a presence of the people who make Italy so unique for me. The joy and elation and warmth I feel while immersed in Italian culture is a big part of why I love to paint.

Excerpts from Publications

“ ‘Scenes from Italy’ was inspired by several visits to various parts of Italy and Sicily. While having a sensitivity to the landscape, this painter is far more concerned by the moods Italy evokes. More often elation and warmth than merely a concern for color, value, shape, form and design (which are of course also a part of these compositions), I am ‘not interested in perfection’…thus I usually choose images which are apt to be ruins of some sort, or architectural elements as part of a landscape. Tiny villages with little or no connection to the outside world, a shepherd’s shack, an earthquake shaken stairway or an ancient family shrine—I believe these images more easily capture the essence of the people than the grandest of cathedrals—so that’s more of what I am after. I am hoping that the observer can feel a sense of the people living ‘within the walls’, for I am ever conscious of those who came before and lived within this ancient land. Although few of my paintings ever include figures, I hope viewers can feel a sense of people in the past who personify these images in their own way.'”

“In the past, Janice has been a still life/architecture painter. Interiors, and dressing table compositions have made up most of her previous work, but now she says that it is impossible to be in Italy without spending some time interpreting the landscape in some form or other, Here we can view some of these landscapes and architectural forms which begin to give the viewer these interpretations of the ‘moods of Italy’”.