Janas is a visual artist based at McRae Studios in Orlando, FL. Janas holds a BFA/ MA in drawing and painting from Ball State University, Muncie, IN.

Throughout her life, she has pursued her art practice in diverse ways, including teaching, set building, renovating houses, and creating decorative furniture. She currently paints in oil  and also creates dimensional paperwork she calls “Drawing with Scissors”.  Janas uses scissors to cut the shapes and lines she sees in her subjects.

 She is not encumbered by the pencil and its eraser when she is “Drawing with Scissors”.  Don’t worry, she doesn’t run with them…anymore.

Janas finds inspiration from her childhood in Central Indiana. As a girl, she had a vivid imagination and created stories about her animals especially her dogs, and her pig Henrietta.

Using expressive strokes and vivid color, she pays homage to rural life in her paintings.

In addition, Janas paints people. She sees painting (and cutting paper) like a good conversation.

 Janas has been in many juried shows over the past 30 years and is in private collections across the country.

She has won awards for her work and is a 2005 Eli Lilly Foundation Creative Renewal Fellow.