Biography

 

 

Janet Sherman was born in 1970.  She earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Design from the University of Hawaii in 1994.  Janet’s Japanese mother, a trained master in calligraphy, ikebana, and embroidery filled her youth with a rich cultural heritage which greatly influences her work today.  As a child she enjoyed playing and performing the Koto, and making wonderful creations out of repurposed materials such as ornamental balls out of calendars and parasols out of cigarette wrappers.  Spending summers as a child in Japan with her grandfather, a high Buddhist Priest, taught her reverence for the natural world and gave her great abilities in patience and precision.  Janet taught herself origami as a child and translates her enjoyment of folding paper into the artwork she now creates.  She is a self taught artist and continues to enjoy working with repurposed materials in creating her artwork.  She combines western color theory with eastern aesthetics to inspire rich pattern and color fields.  Janet now resides in Portland, Oregon.