About the Art

Janet C. Fish Intuitive Art

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About the Art

and the Artist

photo by Cheryl Unruh

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Artist Statement

I work almost entirely on an intuitive level. I often paint a background, look at it for a period of time (minutes to weeks) and at some point a picture seems to emerge, and I paint it.

My dolls are either made with no pattern at all, or with one designed by me. Most are no pattern. I believe that doing it that way brings my own unknown vision out through my fingers into the fabric and paint.

Art is important to society, culture, and history. Art reflects our times, our standards and values. We need art, for it collectively reflects the very soul of our society.

Art Making Philosophy

I make art, either pictures or dolls, from my soul. I am mostly untrained, and use drawing and painting as 'therapy.'

When I get a paintbrush or drawing instrument in my fingers, I go into that part of my brain where there is no time. Nothing exists then except the paper, paint, and my hand.

If I paint when I am in physical pain, the pain disappears, and I become unaware of it.

When I paint, I let go of my "self" and simply let my muse do the work at hand. It's the same when I make dolls, only different. Different/the same. Go figure.

Every single doll I make is one of a kind. They are made such that I couldn't reproduce most of them if I tried. During the 30 years that I have been making dolls, I came to realize that there are no mistakes. Every so-called "mistake" can be looked upon as serendipity. I consider each of my creations to be a comedy of errors, intuitive visions, serendipitous opportunities to create from the depths of my soul outward through my fingertips and into the medium in which I am working.

The dolls I make are intuitive. I've graduated to working without a pattern at all. I used to design my own patterns and probably still will, but I feel that my own visions and intuitions are best served with free cutting at this point in time.

I believe in sharing openly. The art and art-doll making world is so dynamic and so diverse, that it behooves us to spread the joy as far and as wide as possible. I have found professional doll artists to be very generous of spirit in helping one another. There are no real "secrets". There is technique and materials. There is vision and intuition. It is up to the artist herself or himself to produce something that reflects what needs to be reflected. If you have any questions about my work, please feel free to email me.

I find that I need to add one note here, fyi. I am Janet C. Fish. I live in Kansas. I am not the Janet Fish who lives in the East and is an extremely talented, fine artist watercolorist. I fondly refer to myself as "the other Janet Fish." I periodically get notes from students who are doing reports on Janet Fish. I always write back and explain. If you ever do a report on me, hey, I'll tell you anything you need to know for your report! But if you are indeed looking for Janet Fish the watercolorist, I'm not her. I'm the "other Janet Fish" who makes art dolls, intuitive art, and has a whole lot of fun doing it!

Janet C. Fish