About Janette Rickman

Growing up in Manchester UK and being a reserved child, her father would take her on walks upon the moors of Lancashire where she found freedom, rolling hills, and herself.

A university taught her graphics, photography and design and gave her a living, but she had a compulsion to record what her father called "Everything that is unchanging". In a shifting world, nature and skies would be her anchor through some difficult years. This is still her concern when Rickman is painting. The subject isn't only a visual record, but an emotional connection which Rickman conveys in her work. This is important to her.

Working in acrylic paints, naturally coloured inks and oil, she uses a limited palette in one of her series, yet bold colour in another, subsequently displaying a high regard for
her subjects. Jantte allows the subject to demand how it is painted. Many of her pieces have unintentional indications of a personal sadness or loss, however, the works are mostly joyful and nostalgic: reigning in her personal experiences. If her work shouted a message it would be "look at the world and its simplicity and hold it in your mind. It will always be there."

Throughout her career, Jan had many diversions into other creative areas. She studied ceramic decoration and taught at Milton Keynes College. She sold her work internationally for some years and also worked with retail designers, painting the backdrops for window displays. She also set up a free art collective for adults returning to painting and drawing to help them develop and reconnect. They help each other, and are drawn from the film industry through to watercolourists.

The artist lived in Cambridgeshire