Jane Fielder

Jane is one of the most experienced of our studio holders, and has exhibited in galleries across the country, developing her unique ‘Janescapes’ – watercolour scenes of northern industrial landscapes.

She runs weekly life drawing sessions on a Thursday evening and has been with Keighley Creative from its early days, working with Gemma Hobbs and Naseem Darbey, the latter joining Jane on an exchange trip to Hamm in Germany, one of Bradford’s twin towns.

She grew up in Cheltenham and moved to Ireland with her family when she was 17, where she began life classes at an art college.

Jane specialised in art during her teacher-training course and came back to England, living in Kent. She said: “I was a teacher, so I taught painting to little people for five years. I’d then got a bit of money so decided to go back to art school and did a foundation course at Farnham in Surrey. That was just the best year of my life and I met my husband as well.”

At the age of 40, she completed a BTEC course in textile design at Bradford College.

“Then I saw an advert in a paper in 1995 saying ‘adventurous artists wanted’. I met six other people and we formed Aire Valley Arts. They arranged for me to go see a gallery in Ilkley, and take some stuff along.

“The man there said he didn’t like several of my works, but I showed him some very long, free flower paintings I’d done. He said: ‘go home, do me 10 more like that and I may be interested’. I took them back, put a price of £80 on each of these things. He put them in the gallery with frames on and sold them for £400 each.

“Then another gallery in Ilkley wanted some stuff. I painted this dream landscape – lots of chimneys in it. The man in the gallery said: ‘do some more of those’, and that’s how Janescapes came about. They were on long, thin pieces of paper, seven by 22 inches I got in a scrap shop in Baildon. It was beautiful watercolour paper, offcuts, for a penny a piece. I’d go out, look at a scene, fix it in my mind and go home and draw the outline of the mill chimneys and the terraces – quite abstract. He would put them in the gallery window and they sold. It was all thanks to Aire Valley Arts.”

She also had a show at Alexandra Palace and one at Duncan Campbell Gallery in London. “He made me put all my prices up to silly prices and lots of them sold,” Jane said.

She set up a gallery with her husband on Park Road in Bingley. “It took off and we moved to bigger premises, which is where it is now. After 13 years we handed it over to a friend of mine but I still have my two dedicated walls there, so I feel very lucky. I’ve a solo show coming up in November this year.”

Part of the reason for her involvement with Keighley Creative was the need for a space for her life drawing. “I no longer had my gallery. The life drawing is a very small part of my work; I don’t really show it or sell it. It’s just a really good exercise, because it’s completely different. There’s that intense looking. The life drawing group has been going for 30 years. Some people have never done it before, but some of the models and people we’ve still got from the early days. I usually do my life sessions on Thursday evening. Martin Cosgrove has now joined me in the gallery.

“I love being part of this community here. It’s like a family really; all lovely people. I’ve always loved Keighley. I think Keighley’s a brilliant place; it’s up there with Ilkley with the forms of architecture but it’s very overlooked and there’s a massive need. I don’t think people realise how much art gives to people in Keighley.

“We’re keeping people out of hospital, and just personally I can think of people where it has actually saved them from suicide. It makes a massive difference. It’s brilliant what’s done here; everyone works very hard.”

Photo credits: Bob Smith Photography