Hope Rising
Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2025
”The most important thing in the world is to hold our souls aloft.” —Gustave Flaubert
Our world, in all of its tangled difficulties, needs moments – perhaps years – of grace. I believe that the earth offers us a wellspring of goodness. My paintings suggest that we can find healing by basking in the silences and the sounds, the colors and textures, and the changing seasons reflected in the landscape.
I use paint as the language of hope and joy, and light and color are part of my vocabulary. I believe that the earth, while it’s hurting, sends us messages about the potential for something wonderful.
Movement is an important part of my work. I am responding to the earth’s spirit rising as it transitions through seasonal shifts. I’m exploring my own reaction to change in the world and within my life.
My paintings use movement flowing across the canvas as a metaphor for transformative possibilities. Instead of responding with fear when life is difficult, I prefer a more open stance, welcoming change and growth.
I believe we need to do whatever we can to hold our souls aloft. Beyond living with love for family and community, I find solace in painting and in the landscape.
A Sense of Place
Holter Museum of Art, Helena Montana, 2025
This exhibition is about place in relation to the landscape. The work speaks as a healing, a settling in, or an appreciation of the here and now. The natural landscape has much to teach us about what really matters to the earth and its creatures, and what matters most within us. My wish for the world is to connect earth with body and body with spirit.
My paintings are about moving through nature – in the landscape and within our own nature. They’re also about the simple pleasure of the presence of light, both near and far, and paint itself.
Place is a vital part of my work. I have deep roots in the San Francisco Bay Area where I have a rich history. I also have a home in Sweden where I have been traveling for the past 27 years. In painting the nature in these two places I have come to know them and myself in them.
In these times of global change, I want to share my belief in the importance of connection to one’s immediate environment and finding a salve, a sense of peace, a love for holding all that is right here.
This work offers the Holter community an opportunity to reflect on the beauty of the natural world and the beauty within.
Into the Light
Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2025
Eleanor Harwood Gallery presented “Into the Light,” a solo show by Janet Jacobs, in January and February, 2025.
“Most of these paintings came from an exhibition in 2019 that coincided with the Covid lockdown. It has been our pleasure to re-present these paintings as well as introduce her newer works.
In more recent paintings Jacobs has moved towards a further abstracted style of painting, though the content, paint strokes and gestures remain familiar.
Place is a vital part of Ms. Jacobs’ work. In painting the nature surrounding her she comes to know it and herself in it. ‘Repeatedly being in the landscape connects me to place visually, physically, personally and temporally.’ In these times of global change it is the artist’s intention to share her belief in the importance of connection to one’s immediate environment where we can find a sense of peace, and a love for holding all that is right here.”
—Eleanor Harwood
