Janelle McKain: Surreal Art
This week’s Deviant is Surreal artist Janelle McKain. Born and raised in Nebraska, USA, McKain has a Bachelor’s degree in K-12 Art Education with an endorsement in Gifted Education from Kearney State College and has been teaching art for the past 29 years in public schools across Nebraska. Currently, she is Department Chair and teaches Drawing and Advanced Drawing at Millard South High School in Omaha, NE.
McKain works mainly in graphite but enjoys watercolour painting as well. She is also involved in collaborative drawings with other international artists through the The Exquisite Corpse and The Antipodes Project. In all of their complexity, nearly all of McKain’s drawings are unplanned. She begins when she feels inspired and lets the images and shapes emerge without constraints.
Despite her busy teaching career, McKain always has a drawing or collaboration on the go. “I draw because I enjoy it immensely; it is soothing to me, not unlike rocking a child in a rocking chair… and this sensation…keeps me coming back to the drawing table over and over again. I enjoy the mystery of what is unraveling before me, and each drawing appears full of personal imagery that has no obvious answer. This is what inspires me; this is what fuels my work. Breathing and drawing are of equal importance to me.”
McKain’s work has been exhibited in group shows, has been featured in numerous magazines, and will be included in the upcoming book “Imagine the Imagination. New Visions of Surrealism” in November 2009.
For more information about Janelle McKain, visit her profile on Deviant Art. For an in depth interview visit Deviantly Surreal Magazine.
Sources: Oranges and Sardines, Deviantly Surreal Magazine.
You may also like:
October 6th, 2009 at 2:51 am
Absolutely love these. Deviant Art rocks!!! Thanks
October 12th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Janelle, I grew up in Nebraska too! and now live in the south. There’s something about those big open skies and knowing our right size in that landscape that allows us as artists to channel the work that is being gifted to us through some other source. Great to see the work of such a talented Nebraska sister. Congrats!
October 23rd, 2009 at 3:54 am
hello,Janelle,je connais ce site,j ai déjà fait des visite,encore un immense bravo pour tes realisations,juha
October 23rd, 2009 at 12:17 pm
You rock, Janelle !
October 27th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
way to go, Janelle! Yes, I am impressed! Big time! Can I do a Keith? (inside joke, only Janelle knows what I mean):
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and ?????????????? and more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!