Jan Martin in Profile
Through her watercolour paintings Jan Martin delights in capturing what she sees as the essential natural beauty of the Australian landscape.  She paints atmospheric, coastal and outback scenes, suffused in the Australian white light.  She breaks down the colour, texture, and pattern of the landscape into abstract shapes, analysing and then interpreting them with strong fluid brush strokes, to create her interpretation / impression of the landscape.  She places strong emphasis on the effects of light, with its subtlety and harshness, depending on the time of day, and season of the year.  The medium of watercolour allows her to capture a shimmering light revealing the high key white of the French ‘Arches’ pure rag paper.   It also allows her to build up washes and glazes to create an iridescence which gives a luminous strength and depth of colour to her works. 

In her coastal views of Sorrento she has explored the colours and depths of the waters of Port Phillip Bay.  Focussing on capturing the strong yetsubtle sunlight and reflections of the regimented man made structures in this glorious coastal landscape.  Each painting reveals a unique peace and tranquility.  Jan has used a broad wet-on-wet technique, multi- layered washes and glazes and abstract analysis of detail to capture the unique beauty of this area.  The glow of reflections captivates her imagination.  She builds up subtle washes; creating multi-layers of colour, then freely paint in the reflections capturing their colour and pattern, in free fluid brush strokes.   To Jan Martin, boats at rest represent a peace and tranquility at ease in our natural environment.   Her boats exude a quiet majesty and humble grandeur which induce a feeling of peaceful reflection after loyal service.

Part of Jan Martin’s family origins lie in the fishing industry in Lakes Entrance.  Fishing boats and reflections are recurrent themes in her work.  The trawlers  in ‘On The Slips’ at  Lakes Entrance, show the regal dignity of these old ‘ladies’, in for repair before returning to work the ocean depths.  Her pastel of “Dunes’ at Cape Conran, reflects the simple beauty of the natural coastal environment in which the sparse vegetation on the pale undulating dunes abuts the inky depths of the sea.  She has used a broad high key palette to capture the light, high contrast and tranquil beauty of this coastline.
In her watercolour ,‘The Old Woolshed’, at Jalana near Winton  in Queensland she moved into an interpretation of the mystery and harsh beauty of Australia’s vast inland.   Jan has captured the man made structure in a state of decay, returning to nature in a simple yet beautiful temporal cycle.