Jane Frank

(American artist, born 1918 died 1986)

Jane Frank is known as a painter sculptor, mixed media artist and textile artist.A pupil of Hans Hofmann, her work can be categorized stylistically as an abstract expressionist, but one who draws primary inspiration from the natural world, particularly landscape. Her later paintings refer more explicitly 

to aerial landscapes. Chronologically and stylistically, Frank's work in totality straddles both the modern and the contemporary (even postmodern) periods. Her mixed media pieces include the application of  not just spackle but a variety of other materials,including sea weathered or broken glass, charred driftwood, pebbles, crushed graphite or silica. She even glued on patches of separately painted and encrusted canvas to her jagged abstract expressionist paintings. The oil paiting technigue itself varies widely from heavy daubs and stabs of the palette knife to watery or inky effects. Occasionally a very thick impasto will be peppered with minute pits, so that it looks a bit like sandstone eroded by wind blown dirt. There are even crinkly web like areas  which somewhat resemble batiue or tie dye. Sometimes the paint appears smeared with mud or mixed sand, though its hard to be sure. 

THe 1963 work pictured below is a good example as well is, Plum Point-1964 (above wood collage).

Untilted (1963) by Jane Frank (the title of this painting may be "Pools Island")

Mixed Media:oil, spackle, charred driftwood, glass, crushed graphite, and canvas collage on canvas

Frank's is a Mixed Media Artist who uses a wide range of media (example: a work on canvas that combines paint, ink and collage) to communicate her art though the mergence of painting and sculpture. Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct visual art media.  It is the technique of exploring different media combinations and types that has created her personal style and unique signature. 

In our doll piece we are exploring different media and their unison, Frank's works shows excellent examples of this and that is why I have chosen to include her. The way that she has used such large objects on canvas shows how she is very clearly manipulating the elements in the work to create balance and unison. 

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