Today we’d like to introduce you to Janice Santini.
Hi Janice, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I found a fondness in the arts since I was in elementary school. Contest posters for our school fairs started a desire to perform my best. Around the same time I cured my childhood boredom by placing the family Sears catalog at my desk, pretending that orders were being placed at my window. Writing receipts for imaginary large orders from the catalog gave great pleasure. By the time I was a little older I self taught myself to paint by studying Vincent Van Gough’s painting, “Sunflowers”. In High School my art teacher inspired me to work hard on a portfolio and I applied myself by taking college courses at Mass College of Art in Boston on Saturdays. My work received multiple awards including the Boston Globe Award and a placement in a local gallery before I was 18. Curious in the lack of spotlight on teen arts in our community had me pondering. Some creative friends and supporting adults gathered to create a youth arts group named Y.E.LL. (Youths Expressions Letting Loose) We organized art shows in varies places in our city before graduation.
I dedicated my next four years in the studies of Fine Arts at Mass Art in Boston. The thrill of riding subways with large canvases and visiting galleries on Newbury Street was a reality. Mass Art created discipline and constructive criticism that I had to learn from. Art school creates a learning that dedicating yourself to your art studio will be rewarded as you push yourself deeply. The irony is as you come to this point as an artist it’s time to graduate and navigating life is next. I committed to stay in the arts after soaking in the influence that art school gives you being in that environment.
Fortunately after graduation I had the opportunity to work in art gallery in Newburyport, north of Boston. Eventually, my artwork was represented there. I fell in love with taking and learning about artists work. The more captivating the conversations were the more you began to know your audience. I learned a lot about putting on large gallery events there and I’m grateful to have had that experience in my early 20’s. It has influenced me where I am today.
A move to Vermont became my next chapter. Continuing to paint, I found my next job at Anichini. An Italian fabric warehouse where product for interior designs were created and made. I couldn’t resist learning about luxury high end fabrics and the custom designs for high profile figures. I was honored to be photographed with the fabrics in the Autumn 2004 Vermont Life Magazine. My next influence that shaped me was a position at a rated #1 Five Star hideaway, Twin Farms. Working in a sanctuary of museum art, high design and high profile guests was an addition to learned refinement. The joy of designing marketing postcards with my drawings and imagining them in the hands of their guest list was thrilling. Hand painting a floor in a French style cottage with American Pop Art hanging on the walls that I learned about in art school was a fairy tale.
My next chapter brought a marriage and children in southern Maine. Ten years went by in my thirties and art was on hold. I wasn’t completely on hold as my husband and I created a holistic health practice that is still booming today 18 years later. After my third child, it was time to paint again and I didn’t stop. I painted nearly 300 paintings large and small. I found myself organizing solo exhibitions and had the tools under my belt to do so. All my previous experiences were leading me to a place I only dreamed of.
I dreamt I would open my own art gallery but thought it would be years until my children were off to college.
That dream was fast tracked and it has put me where I am today. My health changed and it came with unexpected physical challenges. It wasn’t until I had a genetic test that I learned that I was dealing with a slow progressive disease that was rare. While my life returned to Boston but for healthcare this time, I changed my mind. I realized that health is the health of the mind. My mind was creative and that brought infinite happiness. It didn’t matter that I had to change how I lived but it mattered how I thought. My family gathered and with unwavering commitment, a gallery was built. It happened so fast that I jumped quickly into the idea of representing, curating and building relationships with artists. It was the new priority to bring culture and a new addition of the arts to my community in Southern Maine.
Blue Door Gallery was born. My gallery opened its doors for its first exhibition on October 20th, 2023. An unusual and historical 1857 barn with a 20 foot well with a glass lit cover and a historical blue door that goes to nowhere. The energy and the intentions are beautifully felt. It’s a place I find myself in awe of the healing that can be felt through the art. We have had 9 exhibitions thus far and the crowds have significantly grown. Art lovers gather while live jazz is playing, artists and their followers chatting in the background with excitement during the exhibitions.
Today the gallery exceeds in ways I did not expect. I’m able to hire an assistant to hang art, assist during busy times and visit art studios with. My family attends the openings and it has become something we look forward to together.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Gratitude ultimately brings the feeling of a smooth road but hard work and balance is a challenge. As a female business owner, a mother of three and a practice manager of our family owned holistic practice, the collective can certainly be a challenge. Being a property owner of a historic building in New England can also have its surprises. Having great mental health doesn’t happen by accident while caring for your own health obstacles, it’s takes work. I often tell others that good mental health is health and loving yourself remedies many challenges. Setting boundaries to allow personal space is necessary but a challenge while playing so many roles. I often think to myself there isn’t anything I can’t handle but that thought process comes after working through life’s challenges.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a trained fine art oil painter. After art school I developed pleasure in painting clouds. Large canvases gave me the ability to create sweeping clouds that immerse the viewer. The small distant landscapes at the bottom of the canvases came secondary. I developed my technique intuitively. Taking photographs of cloud never look the same through the human eye. Studying them myself and then translating what I remembered gave me an approach that felt my own. These paintings became my signature that I was known for. When I receive a message from someone today and they tell me the clouds today reminded them of me, it’s an honor.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Cheerleaders and supporters come in all kinds of ways. They are vital especially when you don’t recognize your own achievements. When I see the achievements of my own children and see myself in them, I start to realize how interesting my path was. Non of this would have been possible on my own. My supporters and advocates have been there by influencing me when I was young or by cheering me along the way. My high school art teacher, the gallery owners that first represented me, my husband, brother and extended family members. Always my best friends, children, gallery assistant and artist colleagues. The gallery would not have been built and designed if it was not for my family. The dedication was there because they wanted me to succeed in my dreams. How could one be so lucky? The success of the gallery comes from my community and beyond. There is something special about those that support the arts. Open minded individuals that support the artwork of another is exceptional. I can only hope that I play a role in someone else’s success and I have had.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://blue-door-gallery.square.site/
- Instagram: blue_doorgallery
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/19prvD1KzT/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Image Credits
Photography by Loose Rein Photography and by Janice Santini