MASTER OF HER CRAFT

Natural fabrics become twoand threedimensional works of art in Jane Balshaw’s studio.

In her Canterbury studio, Jane Balshaw paints a floral prototype for a chair seat cover at the desk her mother once used for her airbrushing work.

What makes a painting, a sculpture, a building or a graphic design pleasing to the eye? Proportion, balance and color are three components that come into play—and they are the foundation of painter, fiber artist and colorist Jane Balshaw’s work.

Based in Canterbury, Balshaw has been a juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen since she moved here from California in 2003. Several of her pieces are scheduled to be on display in Art, Craft & Design: The Exhibition at this year’s craftsmen’s fair (see page 84 for more information).

The league also calls upon Balshaw for other reasons—with her background in interior design, she has helped the league with layout and display in its galleries throughout the state, including the newly designed smaller shop in Hooksett.

But Balshaw’s heart is in her studio, and she’s had commissions from homeowners, business owners and institutional clients throughout the state—and beyond. She was on the homestretch of renovating her studio when we spoke this spring.

Jane Balshaw [JB]: I grew up in California where both my parents were artists. My father was a portrait photographer who had a lab in the house, and he also did lithography. My mother was an airbrush artist in San Francisco, who did work for Saks and Bergdorf-Goodman. Later in life, she became an oil painter and a Chinese brush painter. My mother’s sister, Nell Melcher, was an internationally known watercolorist—their mother was a watercolorist and their father was a sign painter. So I was exposed to art early.

JB: I did not have a formal art education, but I did study interior design and fashion analysis in college. I was always interested in how we understand proportion and balance in the world around us. That’s how I became interested in the golden ratio [also known as the divine proportion, the golden ratio is a mathematical concept that goes back to the ancient Greeks; the ratio is approximately 1:1.618 and appears in geometry, art, architecture and other areas]. There is a natural and mathematical proportion in the world around us. We see it in the ratio of the length of our fingers to the length of our arms, in the design of the Parthenon and in Leonardo da Vinci’s drawing of the Vitruvian man, which represents the beauty and symmetry of the human frame as well as the divine connection between the human form and the universe. Proportion and balance are also used in clothing design, such as determining the best hemline based on the body type of the person wearing the dress.

JB: I figured out that you could apply the same ideas concerning proportion and balance to color so the finished work has harmony. I use Fibonacci’s number sequence to blend my paint and proportion my artwork. This number sequence was introduced to Western Europe in 1202 by the Italian mathematician Fibonacci—also known as Leonardo Bonacci or Leonardo of Pisa—to relate to the golden ratio. The sum of two consecutive numbers in the sequence equals the next number— for example 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 and so forth to infinity. The relationship between each sequence is that of the golden ratio, which is the perfect balance we see in the natural world around us. Examples of Fibonacci numbers appear in biological settings, such as the arrangement of leaves on a stem, the flowering of an artichoke and an uncurling fern. I believe using this balance allows the viewer of my artwork to feel engaged and satisfied.

JB: I use three primary color wheels in my work. One wheel is tinted red—primary red, reddish yellow and reddish blue. A second has primary yellow, yellowish red and yellowish blue. The third is primary blue with bluish yellow and bluish red.

Above: Jane Balshaw’s Red Botanica Vessel is sculpted and stitched canvas painted with acrylic.

Top: For this chair made by New Hampshire Furniture Master Tom McLaughlin, Jane Balshaw made the seat covering from painted and stitched cotton.

I mix my own paints and have everything in my studio organized according to these systems of color. For example, when I designed the upholstery for chairs by New Hampshire Furniture Masters Tom McLaughlin and Jeffrey Cooper [see page 81], I chose colors for my fabric that complemented the reddish brown color of the wood.

NHH: So the colors in your fabric come from paint and not from how the fabric was dyed or woven? 

JB: That’s correct. Painted fabrics don’t fade, and they hold up better than dyed fabrics. The paint is acrylic, which makes it stain-resistant. Anything that gets on the fabric does not penetrate. To clean it, I just use cool water on a cloth.

Examples of Jane Balshaw’s monotypes on cotton include, clockwise from top left, Crossing Over, which is stitched, appliquéd and hand quilted; Purple Mountain Majesty, which is stitched and quilted; Hope Springs Eternal, which is quilted and embellished with painted and sculpted cotton; and Aggregate, which is stitched and quilted.

My wall art is also painted. I use natural fabrics—I prefer cotton but have used silk—as the colors become more entwined rather than laying on top as they would on synthetics.

JB: Quilting is a passion of mine. I learned how to sew in the fifth grade and made my own clothing. For me, quilting is a mix of my color world with sewing. Every textile piece I do could be considered a quilt, if you define that as layers of fabric held together by thread. But you are not confined to using only textiles. I’ve used molded felt and paper.

JB: I’m enjoying painting botanical vessels, which are made from canvas fabric that I cut, restitch and then sculpt into shape. Then I use a few layers of gesso to prime the fabrics, embellish them with hot glue and paint with my acrylic paint. I use colors that fit into what I call my triadic color theory system.

JB: I like the analytical part of the design process—designing shape and determining color, and then pulling it all together from my mind’s eye and seeing it work. NHH

Because of the pandemic this summer, the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s eightyeighth annual fair August 1–9 will be a virtual event at nhcrafts.org. As one of the premier craft shows nationwide, the fair showcases work by some of the finest juried craftspeople in the country.

See and shop for one-of-a-kind fine craft that is both beautiful and functional. In addition to the not-to-be-missed Art, Craft & Design: The Exhibition, where you can see Jane Balshaw’s work, you can connect with the hundreds of makers, and learn about their vision and passion for their craft—all from the comfort of your home!

The 2020 League of New Hampshire Craftsmen’s Annual Fair Saturday, August 1–Sunday, August 9 Online for 2020 at nhcrafts.org

Textile Transformations