New Paintings by Janet Francoeur From Carrboro to the Coast an Artist Paints North Carolina

The North Carolina Crafts Gallery, 2212 W. Main St., Carrboro, NC features "From Carrboro to the Coast, an Artist Paints North Carolina"  paintings by New Bern, NC artist Janet Francoeur for the month of May.

Focusing on her environment Janet's impressionistic and realistic paintings are done in watercolors and acrylics.

Janet moved to North Carolina in 1989 and immediately fell in love with the architecture and the landscape. After having lived in Colorado and Michigan she found spring in North Carolina to be breathtaking and is still inspired every year to paint North Carolina in bloom.

Francoeur holds a BA in drawing and printmaking from Siena Heights University, Adrian, Michigan with additional study under Ken Auster, Ann Vasilik, Mike Rooney. Her work is in public and private collections across the country, including New South Bank, John Hancock Insurance, Western History Collection of the Denver Public Library, the Michigan Historical Society and others. 

She worked for twenty years in ink doing architectural renderings with additional work in the commercial printing industry and for the award winning Aspen Colorado newspaper, the Aspen Times, while pursuing her fine art on the side. After moving to New Bern she and her husband opened a gallery, Carolina Creations which they still operate today.

Viewers of Janets work often comment that her work "makes them feel good" and that they love the colors. "I paint things that make ME feel good so am always thrilled to know it gets translated into my work." The second comment always makes Janet smile. "When we moved to North Carolina I had been working in black and white for twenty years and didn't have a clue how to mix colors.  I was inspired by all the spring color. Over the next few years I taught myself how to mix paint by adding color to my ink drawings. After many years of doing this I finally felt confident enough to start painting and leaving out the lines!".

This show at the North Carolina Crafts Gallery will feature paintings of scenes around Carrboro, including the farmers market, Fearington Village, the mosaic lady bench at Carr Mill Mall, and further east, scenes at Tryon Palace, and on to the live oaks east of Beaufort to name a few.

Gallery hours are Mon.-Sat.,10 a.m-6 p.m.Sun., 1-4 p.m. For more information call the gallery at (919) 942-4048 nccraftsgallery@yahoo.com.

I've posted some of the paintings for this show in earlier posts. Here are a few more!