Your Painting Title One Nation

Your NameJanae Lehto


Mediumpastel

Your ProfileAs a young girl, I used to draw spiders. Everywhere and on everything. At 10 years old, I wanted to be a starving artist. Things changed a bit after art school, like getting a 9 to 5 job and finding a spot in the corporate world. I never really stopped creating, but didn’t have an outlet for it. Right after my daughter was born, my husband built me a studio…I think more to move my stuff OUT of the house since I wasn’t doing anything serious with my art. My studio quickly became a storage building for anything that didn’t fit in our small house. It would not be an art studio for a few more years. In 2007, a year after my dad passed away, I was looking for a katydid photo online. The katydid symbolizes my dad in the way he taught me the love of nature, the love of being silent and taking it all in…the love of everything, even if it isn’t “traditionally” pretty. By accident, I came across a colored pencil forum that instantly mesmerized me. A few months later, I joined a local art gallery. Since then, I’ve continued my effort as a serious artist while working full time and raising children as a widow. I’m always looking at life as if it were a still life, portrait, landscape, etc worth painting. I love the details in life, the light that shines on something and the shadows that are created.

The Story Behind Your PaintingThe eagle represents the quiet stoicism my dad displayed to us growing up. My dad was a Vietnam veteran, my brother an Iraq veteran. Both witnessed what only war shows, came home different men, and faced the harsh realities of reintegration with varying success. The eagle, like them, is always watchful, but ready to protect with ferocity at a moment's notice. There is no need to explain or defend someone’s thinking since it rises above the chatter and protects all as Americans. It’s known cruelty and compassion, but it still is ever watchful and ready to protect.