Her daughters, Kristin and Allison, had for a while been encouraging their Mom to show her artwork.  They were not taking no for an answer.  For Mother’s Day, the girls made Jan sit down and Kristin handed her laptop over to her mother.  They asked her to Google herself, which she did.  Up popped one of her paintings along with the domain name www.janheaton.com.  When she clicked on it, up came a home page with one of her paintings and the heading, Jan Heaton, Artiste.

How cool is that?  Her girls should win an award for Most Supportive Daughters!

Two weeks after she was laid off, Jan gathered her courage and called Wally Workman, who is gifted in recognizing and representing emerging talent.  Malou Flato had already told Ms. Workman that she should look at Jan’s work.  So, when Jan called, Ms. Workman was eager to see her book.  Jan was nervous, but her years in advertising had taught her that presentation is critical. There is only one chance to make an impression.  

So, she carefully prepared a unique portfolio for her appointment, and was comfortable knowing that at least she was ready to put her best foot forward.  As luck would have it, some other gallery owners and well-established artists happened into the gallery and admired her work.  Jan was there for two hours at the end of which Ms. Workman asked to come see Jan’s bigger pieces in her studio so they could prepare for a show in the gallery in a mere six weeks time.

The door had opened for Jan, no doubt about it.  Now comes the part about hard work and sacrifice.

When I ask Jan what part the layoff played in her transition, she said, “I wouldn’t give credit to the fact I lost my job as the catalyst for making the change.  But I do think that when things disrupt your day to day routine, as that experience did for me, it did make me sit back and ask ‘How do I want to reinvent what I’m doing? And, is this an opportunity to produce some income from something I love doing?’”

To support herself, Jan worked contract work for two years and ultimately took a 30 hour a week advertising job to support herself.  For four more years she did advertising work until 2:30 in the afternoon, she came home and got a bite to eat, then painted until 8 in the evening.  She also painted most weekends.  As her art gained visibility and she was represented in more galleries, there were more commissions...and more work to do.

I have to stop Jan for a moment to make sure I understood what she’d just been saying.  Yes, I had heard her correctly.  Wow.  

I asked Jan how she managed to do that.  “Getting older,” she said, “also gives you the opportunity to learn to say ‘no’.  I don’t remember 20 years ago having so many social functions and events.  You begin realizing that if you accept every lunch or happy hour time, there is an impact on your productive time.  I love friends and parties, but I became very good at prioritizing my time.”

A year or so ago, Jan decided she needed a timeline and financial goals so she would know when the time was right for her to move to her art full time.  She decided that when the commissions from her art exceeded her income in advertising, she would make the jump.  For 6 years, her commissions increased until last year, the crossover came.

Jan laughs as she tells me all the people who have congratulated her these past weeks on her ‘retirement’.  The reality is she’s retired in the sense that she is only working one job instead of two.  It had occurred to her in the last year or so that maybe she didn’t have to be working so hard.  She simply can’t imagine retiring at her age and not having challenges, and goals ahead of her.  

This thoughtful, focused woman clearly relishes the new challenges and opportunities unfolding before her.  I can hear the enthusiasm in her voice as she talks about learning new tools to promote her business, teaching workshops and building her art business.  And, she’s enjoying the unfamiliar feeling of finally being on top of things instead of always feeling a little behind. Now that she has established herself, she dreams of branching into other media.

Although Jan is a seasoned, savvy business woman who through planning, hard work and sacrifice has turned her passion into a second career, the little girl in her is still just below the surface.  I notice, on her patio, peeking out from behind the garden chairs, a well-used hula hoop.

Since her first show in 2002, at Wally Workman Gallery , Jan Heaton has received enthusiastic praise and reward from collectors and critics for her distinctive accomplishments in painting. Jan’s watercolors are included in the corporate collections of the new Dell Children’s Medical Center, Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa-Atlantic City, Ritz Carlton-Chicago, The Four Seasons-Boston, The Dolphin Hotel-Disneyland and others. Other works are included in Austin Museum of Art’s current exhibition, Laguna Gloria Grounded, at AMOA-Laguna Gloria where she is also a faculty member.

Her artwork is now represented in Austin at Wally Workman Gallery, in Atlanta and Los Angeles at Soho Myriad Gallery, in Houston at  Art + Artisans, and in Johnson City at Kirchman Gallery.

You can find more of Jan's work at her website .

Opening photo credit:  Larry Kolvoord.
 

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