"Grasped by Spirit Resonance" by Janet Cass

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Janet Cass

Artist Statement

Each morning at dawn I slip my kayak into the quiet but swift tidal water.  This day, as the sky lightens, the fog shows no signs of dispersing, not good conditions for the task at hand.  But I shove off anyway, packing my camera though I may take no photographs.  I go because I love the salt marsh in all its forms – foggy, windy and stormy as well as calm, clear and bright.

This journey started with a simple “yes” to an invitation to go kayaking with a new friend.  The second time out I dared take a camera.  At the time I was interested in photographing the horizon, and from the vantage point of the kayak it was spectacular.  But the salt grasses were quietly calling to, and I started to pay attention.  I took some “sketch book” shots, and when I put them on my computer, I saw something I had not noticed while out on the water  the shadows of the grasses, so vivid yet so ephemeral, their images completely one with the sky, the water and the grasses themselves.  When I discovered the visual rhythm that the salt grasses, shadows, wind and tidal currents make together, I knew I had found a new language for my art. 

In my photography, I like to allow matters to evolve, letting the images come to me.  My photographs are essentially paintings to me.

Janet Cass Bio

Janet Cass is a fine art photographer and painter living and working in Avalon, NJ and Palm Springs, CA.  She creates large fine Art photographic images that are meant to be felt as much as seen, and each image is essentially an abstract painting. Janet does very little post production and relies on what comes through the lens. “I like to allow matters to evolve, letting the images come to me, and a remarkable variety of very different images are the result”.

The “Song of Solitude” photographic portfolio is the result of Janet’s exploration of the salt grass that thrive along New Jersey’s coastal barrier islands. She makes daily treks into the tidal wetlands in her kayak, no matter the weather, and dares to take her camera with her. She paddles deep into the hidden grassland to places most people have no idea exist, inaccessible by motor boat and completely ignored by cars speeding over bridges. The intimacy of being out alone and so close to the water permits her to see, feel and absorb this vast wilderness. She believes her images are of timelessness, contemplation and presence.

MUSEUMS and COLLECTIONS

2016 “Jazz” from the portfolio titled ”Capturing Rhythm”, Palm Springs Art Museum, permanent collection.

2105 New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY

2014 The National Board of Medical Examiners, Philadelphia, PA

Private collections in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Naples, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boulder

PUBLIC ART

2017 Images from the “Songs of Solitude” Photographic Portfolio have been selected for the City of Indio, California Art and Historic Preservation Commission programs. Her work will be part of the inaugural exhibition in 2017, projected onto the Coachella Valley History Museum‘s vintage water tower.

EDUCATION

BFA - Painting Kutztown University, Pennsylvania

Continuing Studies, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia