Jan Heaton: Watercolor Artist

Plants have so many layers of details that one probably wouldn’t notice at first, but for artists like Jan Heaton, capturing those intricacies is a huge part of what they do. 

“I don't strive for realism. I actually look for details in nature specifically that I can really extrapolate and move around and just kind of focus on the small items I see and then translate them to a large scale.”

Jan’s mother passed down both a love for plants and an affinity for art. She would often stop when they were driving just to pull over and draw a flower by the side of the road, so she could identify it later. 

“She really taught me in this process to really look at things and examine them, and at first you see them and they're beautiful. But the longer you look, the more details you see.”

Since her mom taught her early to stop and sketch the roses, Jan has always been on the lookout for the little details of plants. That careful analysis of them helped her overall appreciation for plants grow through the years.  

“I think it's because of the constant change of plants and how they're growing and they're going through cycles of life and death, just like we are.”

Find more of Jan's work on her website.

A film by Nick Castronuova.