Outside the Canvas: Jane Wynn Forges a Path For Her Art

Jane Wynn will be the first to tell you that no one knows who she is. That’s not exactly true -- she’s lived near Baltimore her whole life and has celebrated plenty of successes with equal amounts of struggle. Like many artists, Wynn is still waiting for the day when her art takes off in the Baltimore scene. Unlike a lot of her peers, however, she doesn’t take herself too seriously. And in that sense, Jane Wynn’s lighthearted demeanor and sincere enthusiasm could be exactly what Baltimore needs. Though the cliché term is anything but, Wynn is a breath of fresh air.

A full-time artist and part-time teacher, the mixed media aficionado finds inspiration in just about everything she sees.

“I was walking across the street in Hampden once, and I saw this great fork on the street,” Wynn says. “So I stuffed it in my purse.”

This affinity for seemingly random objects like a very literal fork in the road stems from Wynn’s childhood. Growing up in a household of seven where many of the clothes and much of the furniture was made by her own mother, Wynn learned to appreciate how things were made. She dreamed of being a painter, and like any child smart enough to realize it on their own, she saw art as a great way to get attention.
   
Wynn’s skills as a painter would eventually come to make for some of her best works of art, but she didn’t feel like painting was all she wanted to do, either.
   
“I was starting to get very frustrated with just a two-dimensional surface,” Wynn says. “It came to me in the early ‘90s when I was ready to get out of college and I had this senior exhibit. My work on canvas evolved into building off of it, using printmaking and sculptures, and I applied my prints to these structural forms.”

This left turn inspired Wynn to experiment with mixed media and assemblage, an art form that has since become her true love. She began to pursue jewelry making and collage, as well as creating more offbeat sculptural pieces made up of household items you might find in a junk drawer. Wynn’s sense of humor is evident in her artwork, whether it’s a cat posed as the Mona Lisa in one of her paintings or a decapitated baby doll pinhead sculpture. The former you might hang in your child’s bedroom -- the latter, not so much.

But as anyone with an art degree knows, it can be hard to pursue art full-time. Wynn had a few odd jobs typical of those who like to work with their hands, and her studio time remained a nighttime activity. Her five-year run as a secretary could’ve threatened to wear her down entirely, but she took advantage of having a regular schedule and paycheck, and she socked away the money before breaking away from the nine-to-five and devoting herself completely to her art.
   
For Wynn, it was the best thing she could’ve done. She soon found herself booked solid for a year with vending events and workshops around the country, and it introduced her to an invaluable network of people. When she wasn’t traveling, the Internet proved to be equally beneficial to her career. When friend and fellow artist Michael DeMeng got a book deal, Wynn lamented on her blog about her own desire to write a book. Within the hour, she had an email in her inbox from DeMeng’s agent who had read her blog, and their ongoing conversations ultimately led to Wynn’s book, "Altered Curiosities: Assemblage Techniques & Projects". It didn’t impress Wynn to see her book in Barnes & Noble as much as it did to see it in the public library.

“It was so amazing to know that any kid who doesn’t have the money for a book but loves to create things can take my book home with them and be inspired,” Wynn gushes. “It also felt good to have an ISBN number.”

These days, Wynn is winding down after another busy year of teaching jewelry making and assemblage workshops around the country, and though she teaches part-time at Towson University, Wynn insists she is an artist first and a teacher second.

“I treat my art like it’s a job,” Wynn says. “I get dressed, I go to the studio, I put in my hours there, and I keep the mess out of my home.”

Wynn Studio, in fact, sits directly behind Wynn’s Parkville home. (“Across from the new Subway, which is terribly exciting,” she adds.) She shares her workspace with husband Thomas Wynn, another multi-talented artist who by day is a medical photographer. Aside from brain surgeries and autopsies, he also photographs his wife’s artwork.
   
“Jane married me just because I was a photographer and she could get free slides of her art,” Mr. Wynn deadpans. “Oh, and healthcare.”
   
It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, since Mr. Wynn often joins his wife on her art festival tours. While he jokes that he hopes Wynn becomes famous so he doesn’t have to work anymore, it’s clear he has a lot of respect for his wife’s work ethic.
   
“She is very funny, but she’s very serious about her work,” he says. “If anyone should have a great career, it’d be her.”
   
And what better place for Wynn’s career to take off than in Charm City? Her quirkiness is true to the style of the town she’s grown up and lived in her whole life, and her portraits are as alluring as her red hair.
   
“I’m an artist without hesitation,” says Wynn. Take just a few minutes to talk to her, and you’ll see she means it.


Cassie Paton is a freelance writer who also seeks the glory of making a living off of her creative efforts. She blogs at wittytitlehere.com and tweets @WittyCassieHere.


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Photos by Bmore Media Managing Photographer Arianne Teeple