
Andrew Liddle
Guest Writer
1:00 AM 25th January 2025
arts
Janescapes 1995-2007: A Cornucopia Of Contemporary Art
![Autumn in Victor Road, Bradford]()
Autumn in Victor Road, Bradford
Many and various will be the manifestations of artistic culture in Bradford this year. Popular Aire Valley artist Jane Fielder has already brought out a sumptuously illustrated book of her paintings which, she says, “is aligned with the Year of Culture celebration.”
It’s a collection of 'Janescapes,' the affectionate name her husband Rob gave to her quirkily individual style. “The name has stuck because it references the idea that no one else does them like me,” she laughs. “‘Scape’ probably suggests landscapes, which is what they are, and a sense of escapism.”
Janescapes, and there are more than 300 of them here, is a glorious patterning of shape and colour, forming a recognisable scene - often in the Bingley area where she lives - with slightly surreal insinuations.
![Bingley with Street Lights]()
Bingley with Street Lights
A typical picture, Bingley with Street Lights, is taken from a familiar viewpoint and includes such staples as an unattached and overgrown mill chimney, washing drying in the wind, rows of streets orderly and stylised, futuristic street lights, with a bizarrely saffron glow.
We find the same key elements in the quirkily appealing Red Chimney, Sheffield, where the eponymous industrial relic dominates the skyline, and the motorcars are lyrically geometric. Many of her Bradford scenes include the iconic Lister’s Mill chimney, as in the colourful Autumn Light, Victor Road, which Jane describes as capturing “a beautiful autumnal day [ with ] leaves, washing, reflections”. A vibrant painting, the wind-borne leaves are as colourful and buoyant as party balloons.
“Yes, I’ll accept ‘surreal’,” she says quickly. “The first one was a dream and they all have a dreamy quality, where things can happen in joyous, positive ways that don’t exist in reality.”
![A quirky view of Bradford]()
A quirky view of Bradford
Jane’s catalogue numbers in excess of a thousand canvases, an astonishing prolificity bearing in mind she only sold her first in 1995.This book, essentially a back catalogue, represents her early period, from 1995 to 2007, when she believes her style was freer than those found in an earlier book covering 2006 to 2017.
Although she sketches them all from life, when she begins to add colour and detail she finds herself playing around with perspective, elongating such as mill chimneys and occasionally adding futuristic flourishes, driverless cars, a favourite. Washing flutters on lines like bunting. Flags respond to winds apparently blowing in different directions. “My approach is very free and I often go with where the paint takes me,” she continues.
![Red Chimney Sheffield]()
Red Chimney Sheffield
Some of her most popular scenes are done in watercolours using the wet-on-wet technique. “I like to swish it around and leave big puddles to dry in their own time,” she laughs. “With watercolour I let the paper and print dictate the outcome - they have a mind of their own, and it’s always interesting to see what appears next day.” All her paintings reflect her acute interest in colour, texture and pattern.
This book showcases not just her Aire Valley paintings but lyrical, vibrant scenes from around West Yorkshire, the east coast and beyond. It’s available from the Bingley Art Gallery, which she founded and owned from 2007 to 2021 and where her paintings can always be seen and bought.
Obviously a 350-page book, beautifully got-up with colour plates, comes at a price - but as the blurb says, it takes you on “a tour of local landmarks”, reflecting Jane’s “creative, heartfelt love of the area.”
It’s a journey worth taking. The book is a thing of beauty, every page a visual delight.
Janescapes may be purchased at the Bingley Gallery, Park Road, Bingley and via https://.janefielder.com