Today we’d like to introduce you to January Ross.
Hi January, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I recently found some Easter decorations I made when I was 3. One is a black bunny with claws and a big red smile. All are made of construction paper…so I feel like I have loved creating with paper my whole life!
I was always drawing as I grew up; my dad would take them to show his friends at work. He even told Nolan Ryan, at a cattle sale, that I drew a picture of him. So I was encouraged, but not to make it a career. When I taught, I used those huge, colorful rolls of craft paper to create characters for my yearly classroom themes. I loved doing that so much!
I eventually decided to retire to the ranch and I have been doing collage, mixed media, and paper portraits full-time ever since.
I didn’t feel like a “real” artist until I took the Brick by Brick Art Business course taught by Burgundy Woods and the San Antonio Street Art Initiative. Those classes helped me gain confidence, knowledge, and the skills to navigate the art world as a professional. I am eternally grateful to SASAI and Burgundy!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My dad is a blue-collar guy and my mom was a stay-at-home mom. Both grew up with ranching. As the oldest, I was expected to go to college and have a respectable career, so that I would move beyond that socioeconomic level and not have to work as hard as they did. Sadly, being an artist was just not a “steady, reliable” job, according to my parents, so I chose to become a teacher.
I loved teaching and I used my love of art to enliven my classroom and lessons, but I always had a little seed of regret growing inside me. I joined a local art association in a nearby town and started attending openings and seeing exhibits and realized this is what I truly loved.
By husband has been supportive of my decision to leave education and focus on what I love. I don’t think I could have made this life-changing decision if I had been single. I am amazed at the young women who do! There were so many of these strong women in the Brick by Brick class with me!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I can paint and draw, but my specialty is paper! I love putting scraps of paper together into ways that express an idea or feeling, or cutting pieces of paper to make unique images.
What I may be most known for are my hole-punch portraits. I did my first one in college when I took an Art for Elementary Teachers class and had to create something with paper. I am an obsessive sports fan so my subject was Wayne Gretzky, who had recently been traded to Los Angeles in the first devastating sports trade I had experienced. I don’t know what made me start punching holes in construction paper but I collected the little punches and made a Gretzky portrait from them. At first I thought it was strange, but cool. But my professor and classmates just went wild over this piece! And a style was born!
I also do religious prayer cards that are not religious in any way. I grew up Catholic so I work some things out with those pieces. I have been using my late father-in-law’s prayer cards for these pieces. I hope he isn’t watching.
I recently started using beading and embroidery on my collages. The more comfortable I get with this, the more I will start using it in my work. It’s another layer of expression for my pieces.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
Oh, goodness. I am a 54-year-old late-blooming artist whose career is in the same stages as young adults in their 20s. Everything is luck! I just happened to see information about the Brick by Brick art business program on Instagram one day—pure luck! That changed how I thought about myself as an artist! My first group show? I just happened to see a call for artists and sent a bold email about it! I feel like every opportunity I have just happens to find me because I know this person or I met that person at an opening or a mutual love of sports brought me into contact with these people…all wonderful, serendipitous luck!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gambolersanonymous.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/januaryross1
