paintings by Jan Freeman Long

G4 NB San Franrisco Chronicle

FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2002

Abstract artists share Santa Rosa exhibition

By Penny Hastings, special to the chronicle

As currents change the course of a river, so the life of an artist changes the course of her work. Jo Hanson and Jan Freeman Long, a sculptor and a painter, respectively, will exhibit their ever-evolving artwork tomorrow through April 26 at the Cultural Arts Gallery in Santa Rosa. . . .

Long, 49, a Petaluma resident with a studio in Point Reyes, has been a "serious" artist for only eight years. "I wanted to paint for a long time," she says. But, when she went to college the first time, her family discouraged art as a vocation. It wasn't until her 40s that she returned to school. "The second time around," she says, "I started painting," She earned a bachelor's degree in fine arts with a distinction in painting from California College of Arts and Crafts in 1996. She spent her final semester in Florence, surrounded by old buildings and ancient ruins.

"Since I was a child I was fascinated with aerial photography." Her months in Italy and her travels throughout Europe fueled a passion for architecture, particularly the Byzantine Era, which Long calls "indigenous architecture" — a more circular form than later periods where square or triangular shapes became popular.

"My focus is on emotional and spiritual content rather than scientifically accurate rendering," says Long, whose acrylics often combined other media. During the past year, she has noticed horizon lines showing up in her work.

"I have come to view them as another sort of map while visually exploring an internal landscape," she says.

Long prefers to work on canvas and sturdy paper, "These surfaces are often subjected to layering, scraping and more layering, which is part of how I arrive at a stopping place. It is a surprising process, one I am compelled to keep track of."