A few of Janet Grissom’s “Strokes of Color” art pieces on display at the Ohio State Faculty Club.
Credit: Paige McBane | Lantern Reporter
Situated between Orton Hall and Mirror Lake, Ohio State’s Faculty Club is more than just a place for staffers to congregate.
The Faculty Club’s art program, which has been in operation for more than 30 years, routinely displays works from notable artists, as stated on the club’s website. An exhibit of oil paintings titled “Strokes of Color” is the program’s current offering and will be on view until Dec. 19, according to a Faculty Club press release.
Janet Grissom, Ohio-based painter and creator of “Strokes of Color,” will host an artist talk at the club Nov. 15 from 3:30 to 5 p.m., the press release states. Faculty Club art coordinator Robie Benve said Grissom’s exhibit is meant to increase appreciation for visual art among staff and students alike.
“I hope somehow their day and their lives are enriched by what they see,” Benve said. “A lot of people come in without expecting artwork and beautiful art on the wall, or like an art exhibit. And when they see it you can tell they’re like, ‘Wow,’ and they spend time looking at it, and that’s really why we do this.”
Benve said she hopes students will interact with the exhibit, as the Faculty Club can seem as though it’s an environment that strictly caters to staff and administration.
“I would love to see more and more students come in and say, ‘OK, let’s see what they have at the Faculty Club this month,’” Benve said. “I think that anybody — not just the art students — just seeing some art, it can brighten your day or give you an inspiration to do something.”
“Strokes of Color” will display 27 of Grissom’s paintings, giving viewers an opportunity to revel in her work as they pass through the space. Grissom said nature has been a substantial inspiration for her artworks.
“I would find myself just walking around fields because I enjoyed all the colors and the textures,” Grissom said. “The combinations, the little nuances of surprise, the shapes and colors and whatever it was. This was always exciting to me.”
Grissom said the beginning of her oil painting career was actually a mistake: She enrolled in a class at the Columbus College of Art & Design thinking it was focused on watercolor.
“It was a total accident,” Grissom said. “I signed up for a watercolor class and here it was, an oil painting class, and I thought, ‘Oh gosh, I’ve got to put up with this.’ And I’ve painted in oil ever since.”
Grissom said she lived in Mexico for a decade, which marked a stark geographical change from Columbus’ cityscape to Mexico’s more natural and earthy environment. This life change had a significant impact on Grissom’s art, she said.
“When I went to Mexico, it brought back all of that time with nature that I spent on a farm,” Grissom said. “I could not believe when I walked into the rainforest for the first time and [saw] the size of the plants. It affected my artwork in a very big way.”
Using oil paint allows for a distinct expression of emotion, as it takes substantially longer to dry than other mediums, Grissom said.
“With the oil paint, I could be working on it the night before, and most of the time when I was taking classes I had two children and a husband, and so therefore I was always working late at night,” Grissom said. “It broadened my time limit, and it allowed me to be able to express my feeling about a particular scene and or landscape, or whatever I might be doing.”
Grissom said one particular piece included in the exhibit, called “Piercing the Darkness,” resonates with her in a deeply special way.
“Maybe I’m more connected to the name of it than I am to the actual painting because I feel like right now the news gets a little serious and dark at times,” Grissom said. “I think we all need some sort of bright spot, happy spot, to be able to pierce that darkness.”
More information about the exhibit, as well as Grissom’s art and career, can be found on her website.
