spends most of her time painting the seacoast of Maine and New Hampshire. When she is not painting outside, which she prefers, you'll find her at home in her studio painting or teaching watercolor classes. Monhegan Island, where she spends early summers, is one of her favorite painting locales. Living in the Mid-Coast area of Maine provides spectacular local subject matter in quaint villages like Pemaquid, New Harbor, Round Pond and her home Damariscotta. She captures the beauty of the New England coast with its capes and flower gardens. Mostly self taught, Jan has studied with Doris Rice, Judy Wagner, Tony VanHasselt and Peter Spataro.       Her passion for color gives her paintings a quality of their own. Her subjects are common and simple, but when translated onto paper using her soft but bright colors, she transforms them into something expressive and alive. "I want you to feel the beauty and warmth in these subjects. Every now and then everyone needs a peaceful place in which to escape. That's what I want to create"