Janet Spreiter
Fine Art
https://janetspreiter.com
Contact:
808.661.1380 landline
[email protected]
Large Oils
Ascension
Oil on Canvas
30' x 40'
Oil on Canvas
30' x 40'
Haleakala Moon
Oil on Canvas
32 x 48
Oil on Canvas
32 x 48
Janet was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.
She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford University in 1977 under the guidance of Nathan Oliveira.
Janet has had a lifelong fascination with landscapes and was greatly influenced by early travels throughout Europe with her parents.
Maui was a second home to the family.
Janet resided in Santa Barbara for twenty years, raising her family and painting scenes of the west coast.
Her two sons, Will Adler and Travers Adler, continue the family’s artistic tradition and they share ideas on many projects.
In 1999, Janet returned to Lahaina, where she reunited with her childhood sweetheart.
The diverse islands of Hawai'i provide constant inspiration for her paintings.
She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford University in 1977 under the guidance of Nathan Oliveira.
Janet has had a lifelong fascination with landscapes and was greatly influenced by early travels throughout Europe with her parents.
Maui was a second home to the family.
Janet resided in Santa Barbara for twenty years, raising her family and painting scenes of the west coast.
Her two sons, Will Adler and Travers Adler, continue the family’s artistic tradition and they share ideas on many projects.
In 1999, Janet returned to Lahaina, where she reunited with her childhood sweetheart.
The diverse islands of Hawai'i provide constant inspiration for her paintings.
West Maui
Oil On Canvas
42 x 60
Oil On Canvas
42 x 60
Interview With Janet Spreiter
TNYO: Hello Janet we are thrilled to have the opportunity to have this discussion with you after recently featuring your wonderful art. My first question is where are you from and where is your family originally from ?
Janet Spreiter: I grew up in the Bay Area just south of San Francisco. My father was originally from Minnesota and came to California to pursue post graduate work at Stanford in Aeronautics and Astronautics, where he met my mother. He later became Professor Emeritus at Stanford and was world renowned for his work on modeling solar wind flow around the magnetosphere of Earth. My mother was employed at Stanford as well and had recently sailed over from England on an ocean liner in 1948 with her mother and a friend after surviving the harrowing experience of being heavily bombed throughout WWII.
TNYO: Were you an artist from childhood and did your upbringing and environments inspire and shape your future as an artist?
Janet Spreiter: My mother was a gifted artist and encouraged all four of us to draw. One of the things my parents insisted on in grade school was participation in the annual science fair and creating a project. For kindergarten I did a project (obviously guided by my mother) that was about growing seeds and illustrating their growth progress.
I remember sitting at the kitchen table drawing my daily updates and carefully finishing them with color pencils, and I had a great time doing it. Years later on my father suggested a science project for fourth grade that was light being refracted through prisms. There were lots of charts and graphs and color markers for this one, and he insisted on no smearing and clean arrows on the graphs, so a fair amount of correcting was involved to bring me up to his exacting engineering standards. I spent vacation time traveling worldwide with my parents while my father attended scientific meetings, seminars, and gave talks. We saw so many beautiful places (and visited countless museums) and I was too young for a camera, so I tried to draw the views so I could remember them. By this time my mother had figured out I should always have a little backpack filled with simple art supplies to keep me busy. To this day I always have a pocket sketchbook and pen or pencil handy.
TNYO: Can you tell us a little bit about your academic experience?
Janet Spreiter: I went to Stanford in 1974, full of ideas about all the wonderful things I could learn, hoping to emerge four years later oozing wisdom. I was most interested in Architecture, which combined my father's engineering interests and my mother's artistic flair, but unfortunately that department closed the year I began. I tried various other departments beginning with math and engineering, but I found them too dry and uninspiring. I enjoyed English Literature and Religious studies, where I found the lectures fascinating and a perfect complement to all my early travels. All along I secretly wanted to pursue art, but my plan was to squeeze the odd art class in where I could. However, all the classes were always filled so I declared myself an art major to qualify, figuring I'd change it back to something more legitimate once I got my foot in the door.
TNYO: Landscapes in California and Hawaii, Is there a great difference in the energy and flow in each location, I would assume that working / painting in each of these atmospheres inspires your work differently?
Janet Spreiter: They are very different, mostly in color. I was residing primarily in Santa Barbara, which is notorious for its summer fog and atmospheric haze. I moved there because it felt the most like Hawaii, with the convenience of not having to leave my home state. I enjoyed painting plein air the grays and fog blanketing the coastal mountains and beaches, and the art market was receptive to my work. I moved to Hawaii in1999 as my father was ill and he was living on Maui at that time. I learned to saturate my palette with richer colors to better capture the brilliant tropical light and warm turquoise oceans.
TNYO: What was your major at Stanford.
Janet Spreiter: I wound up with a triple major in English Lit, Art and Photography, with minors in Religious studies and Printmaking. I just couldn't narrow it down further. I offset all that sedentary work with a big dose of daily sports. It was a very complete experience all the way around, and some of the professors were truly exceptional and inspirational.
TNYO: Do you also teach art Janet?
Janet Spreiter: I taught my two sons to love art and draw. Their early sketches can be found lurking on random pages of my sketchbooks. My oldest son, Will Adler, is a talented photographer in Santa Barbara, and my younger son is a musician and lifeguard on Maui. I have taught formally, but usually just to satisfy someone's special request or to help them solve a problem. Creating art takes a lifetime of observation and practice, so I spend most of my time doing just that.
TNYO: Are there other areas of art that you may have explored?
Janet Spreiter: Portraits, wine labels, a children's book, architectural drafting and illustration...art is limitless.
TNYO: What is your favorite medium to work in, and how many mediums have you explored?
Janet Spreiter: I have not explored airbrush because I don't like wearing a respirator but I've done most all mediums at one time or another. During covid I wanted to create some art that was beyond the scope of commercial reproduction, which only too often can lead to your art being copied without permission. I made about 40 different pieces in this new covid collection, but spent a ridiculous amount of time on each one. I found it refreshing to create a new body of work that wasn't intended for sale or promotion. If you ever get out to Maui you can see those in real life since they defy photographic reproduction, and I will leave it at that. Nothing can beat the experience of sitting out in nature with a sketchpad or paints, just observing and noting.
TNYO: Do you have a specific brand or company you like to use when painting? Canvas, Brushes, Paint?
Janet Spreiter: I've tried them all, but at this point I still favor Daniel Smith products and Winsor Newton. I prefer a hard panel for smaller pieces and plein air, and generally switch to hand stretched canvas for larger pieces. I use a primary palette for oils. I am very particular about my watercolor brushes and do not limit my color selection in watercolors. Oil paints are generally mixed to perform uniformly, whereas watercolor paints are often mixed in such a way that they retain the original properties of the respective pigment, be it transparent, opaque, staining, granulating, etc. I like to emphasize those unique properties of each pigment when I use watercolors.
TNYO: How important is Drawing in your process?
Janet Spreiter: It is the foundation to everything I do. I spent years focusing on pencil and ink, and only explored color once I felt I had a solid grasp of shading and line. I can go back through all my old sketchbooks that are just pencil with color notes written in the margins and make a full painting from them years later. I can sketch out multiple scenes very quickly for later use in the studio. I don't use a camera or photos as references since I have not absorbed the essence of a location without observing and drawing it. Observing the scene allows me to arrange it as I experienced it, and without the annoying flattening effect created by a camera.
TNYO: If you were not an artist what would you be?
Janet Spreiter: I'd be lost. I'd probably go back to music and cocktail napkin doodles.
TNYO: Do you have a specific palette arrangement or do you change the color structure now and then?
Janet Spreiter: I can be a bit random on oil palette arrangement, but it is not a huge problem because I use a primary palette, so there are only 3-4 colors maximum (plus white). I found I had to add a phthalo green to the primary palette for tropical ocean. It saves time and expense and it's easier to harmonize the colors. I never use paints that have more than one pigment as it affects mixing outcomes. As part of my exploration into color I think I have bought a tube of every color, and none were right, so I learned how to mix.
TNYO: Do you listen to music when you paint? If so, can you pick a favorite song for our readers to listen to?
Janet Spreiter I like silence or nature. Music can be distracting. Podcasts turn into background static, unless I am creating something really different and weird and the podcast is giving me the visual information, say like aliens and UFOs!
TNYO: Hello Janet we are thrilled to have the opportunity to have this discussion with you after recently featuring your wonderful art. My first question is where are you from and where is your family originally from ?
Janet Spreiter: I grew up in the Bay Area just south of San Francisco. My father was originally from Minnesota and came to California to pursue post graduate work at Stanford in Aeronautics and Astronautics, where he met my mother. He later became Professor Emeritus at Stanford and was world renowned for his work on modeling solar wind flow around the magnetosphere of Earth. My mother was employed at Stanford as well and had recently sailed over from England on an ocean liner in 1948 with her mother and a friend after surviving the harrowing experience of being heavily bombed throughout WWII.
TNYO: Were you an artist from childhood and did your upbringing and environments inspire and shape your future as an artist?
Janet Spreiter: My mother was a gifted artist and encouraged all four of us to draw. One of the things my parents insisted on in grade school was participation in the annual science fair and creating a project. For kindergarten I did a project (obviously guided by my mother) that was about growing seeds and illustrating their growth progress.
I remember sitting at the kitchen table drawing my daily updates and carefully finishing them with color pencils, and I had a great time doing it. Years later on my father suggested a science project for fourth grade that was light being refracted through prisms. There were lots of charts and graphs and color markers for this one, and he insisted on no smearing and clean arrows on the graphs, so a fair amount of correcting was involved to bring me up to his exacting engineering standards. I spent vacation time traveling worldwide with my parents while my father attended scientific meetings, seminars, and gave talks. We saw so many beautiful places (and visited countless museums) and I was too young for a camera, so I tried to draw the views so I could remember them. By this time my mother had figured out I should always have a little backpack filled with simple art supplies to keep me busy. To this day I always have a pocket sketchbook and pen or pencil handy.
TNYO: Can you tell us a little bit about your academic experience?
Janet Spreiter: I went to Stanford in 1974, full of ideas about all the wonderful things I could learn, hoping to emerge four years later oozing wisdom. I was most interested in Architecture, which combined my father's engineering interests and my mother's artistic flair, but unfortunately that department closed the year I began. I tried various other departments beginning with math and engineering, but I found them too dry and uninspiring. I enjoyed English Literature and Religious studies, where I found the lectures fascinating and a perfect complement to all my early travels. All along I secretly wanted to pursue art, but my plan was to squeeze the odd art class in where I could. However, all the classes were always filled so I declared myself an art major to qualify, figuring I'd change it back to something more legitimate once I got my foot in the door.
TNYO: Landscapes in California and Hawaii, Is there a great difference in the energy and flow in each location, I would assume that working / painting in each of these atmospheres inspires your work differently?
Janet Spreiter: They are very different, mostly in color. I was residing primarily in Santa Barbara, which is notorious for its summer fog and atmospheric haze. I moved there because it felt the most like Hawaii, with the convenience of not having to leave my home state. I enjoyed painting plein air the grays and fog blanketing the coastal mountains and beaches, and the art market was receptive to my work. I moved to Hawaii in1999 as my father was ill and he was living on Maui at that time. I learned to saturate my palette with richer colors to better capture the brilliant tropical light and warm turquoise oceans.
TNYO: What was your major at Stanford.
Janet Spreiter: I wound up with a triple major in English Lit, Art and Photography, with minors in Religious studies and Printmaking. I just couldn't narrow it down further. I offset all that sedentary work with a big dose of daily sports. It was a very complete experience all the way around, and some of the professors were truly exceptional and inspirational.
TNYO: Do you also teach art Janet?
Janet Spreiter: I taught my two sons to love art and draw. Their early sketches can be found lurking on random pages of my sketchbooks. My oldest son, Will Adler, is a talented photographer in Santa Barbara, and my younger son is a musician and lifeguard on Maui. I have taught formally, but usually just to satisfy someone's special request or to help them solve a problem. Creating art takes a lifetime of observation and practice, so I spend most of my time doing just that.
TNYO: Are there other areas of art that you may have explored?
Janet Spreiter: Portraits, wine labels, a children's book, architectural drafting and illustration...art is limitless.
TNYO: What is your favorite medium to work in, and how many mediums have you explored?
Janet Spreiter: I have not explored airbrush because I don't like wearing a respirator but I've done most all mediums at one time or another. During covid I wanted to create some art that was beyond the scope of commercial reproduction, which only too often can lead to your art being copied without permission. I made about 40 different pieces in this new covid collection, but spent a ridiculous amount of time on each one. I found it refreshing to create a new body of work that wasn't intended for sale or promotion. If you ever get out to Maui you can see those in real life since they defy photographic reproduction, and I will leave it at that. Nothing can beat the experience of sitting out in nature with a sketchpad or paints, just observing and noting.
TNYO: Do you have a specific brand or company you like to use when painting? Canvas, Brushes, Paint?
Janet Spreiter: I've tried them all, but at this point I still favor Daniel Smith products and Winsor Newton. I prefer a hard panel for smaller pieces and plein air, and generally switch to hand stretched canvas for larger pieces. I use a primary palette for oils. I am very particular about my watercolor brushes and do not limit my color selection in watercolors. Oil paints are generally mixed to perform uniformly, whereas watercolor paints are often mixed in such a way that they retain the original properties of the respective pigment, be it transparent, opaque, staining, granulating, etc. I like to emphasize those unique properties of each pigment when I use watercolors.
TNYO: How important is Drawing in your process?
Janet Spreiter: It is the foundation to everything I do. I spent years focusing on pencil and ink, and only explored color once I felt I had a solid grasp of shading and line. I can go back through all my old sketchbooks that are just pencil with color notes written in the margins and make a full painting from them years later. I can sketch out multiple scenes very quickly for later use in the studio. I don't use a camera or photos as references since I have not absorbed the essence of a location without observing and drawing it. Observing the scene allows me to arrange it as I experienced it, and without the annoying flattening effect created by a camera.
TNYO: If you were not an artist what would you be?
Janet Spreiter: I'd be lost. I'd probably go back to music and cocktail napkin doodles.
TNYO: Do you have a specific palette arrangement or do you change the color structure now and then?
Janet Spreiter: I can be a bit random on oil palette arrangement, but it is not a huge problem because I use a primary palette, so there are only 3-4 colors maximum (plus white). I found I had to add a phthalo green to the primary palette for tropical ocean. It saves time and expense and it's easier to harmonize the colors. I never use paints that have more than one pigment as it affects mixing outcomes. As part of my exploration into color I think I have bought a tube of every color, and none were right, so I learned how to mix.
TNYO: Do you listen to music when you paint? If so, can you pick a favorite song for our readers to listen to?
Janet Spreiter I like silence or nature. Music can be distracting. Podcasts turn into background static, unless I am creating something really different and weird and the podcast is giving me the visual information, say like aliens and UFOs!
Paradise
24x36
(canvas)
24x36
(canvas)
Makena Big Beach
48 x 72
(canvas)
48 x 72
(canvas)
Twin Falls
Oil On Canvas
24 x 36
Oil On Canvas
24 x 36
Janet’s landscape paintings have evolved into contemplative studies with a deep respect for the uniqueness of each moment in time and man's relationship to nature. Her views often include historic references that evoke nostalgic moods and speak of the deeper spirit of a place, enticing the viewer into active participation and relfection.
Each painting is a seamless blend of observation and recollection.
In addition to Janet’s landscapes, her over five decade career in art includes architecture and drafting, computer graphics and design, wine labels, highway billboards, children’s illustrations, cartoons, and portraits.
Visitors are welcome by appointment to stop by Janet's unique Lahaina Studio on Maui.
Contact:
808.661.1380 landline
[email protected]
Each painting is a seamless blend of observation and recollection.
In addition to Janet’s landscapes, her over five decade career in art includes architecture and drafting, computer graphics and design, wine labels, highway billboards, children’s illustrations, cartoons, and portraits.
Visitors are welcome by appointment to stop by Janet's unique Lahaina Studio on Maui.
Contact:
808.661.1380 landline
[email protected]
Honolua Jungle Trail
Oil On Canvas
24 x 36
Oil On Canvas
24 x 36
Big Beach
24 x 36
(canvas)
24 x 36
(canvas)
Secret Cove
24 x 36
(canvas)
24 x 36
(canvas)
Front Street
Lahaina
24 x 36
(canvas)
Lahaina
24 x 36
(canvas)
Sunrise Sail
Oil On Canvas
36 x 52
Oil On Canvas
36 x 52
Peace
Oil On Canvas
24 x 36
Oil On Canvas
24 x 36
Maui
20x34
(canvas)
20x34
(canvas)
Tradewinds
32x48
(canvas)
32x48
(canvas)
Medium Oils
Secrets
12 x 30
(canvas)
12 x 30
(canvas)
Watercolors
Ka'anapali Black Rock
Watercolor Matted
11x14
Watercolor Matted
11x14
Maui Shells matted
Watercolor
16 x 20
Watercolor
16 x 20