Janet Vanderhoof, a military brat, was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in l951. She now resides in rural part of Northern California, surrounding herself with nature and an inspiration to her landscape painting.
It wasn’t until her youngest was born with Down Syndrome that she began to reexamine her life and allowed herself to explore a long-dormant desire to study art. “Finally, at 38, I decided to follow my bliss,†reflects the artist. Janet has a B.A. from San Jose State University. She continued her education in fine art, through additional college classes, seminars and private lessons.
Vanderhoof is a Colorist and Regionalist, influenced by the Fauves, the German Expressionists and the School of Color and Light, introduced by Hawthorne and Henry Henche, an approach originated by Monet. She likes to call her work “Modern Impressionismâ€. Her oil paintings are dramatic, with attention to composition, color and light, showing large flat planes of color, offset by areas of bold expressionistic strokes. She enjoys using rich neutrals to counter balance the use of pure bright color. “My first love is color; it is the emotional force behind all my paintingsâ€. Although, she has the ability to paint most any subject, she prefers to paint landscapes.
