At the top of Ryan Mountain,
Joshua Tree National Park 
Sketching in Paris, Jardin du Luxembourg
Gallery Representation:
Gallery 62 Joshua Tree, CA Rainbow Stew Yucca Valley, CA Purple Agave Art Gallery / Cactus Mart Morongo Valley, CA Redlands Art Association Redlands, CA 29 Palms Art Gallery Twentynine Palms, CA |
Janis Commentz is known for her color-intense palette and loose brush strokes of figures and landscapes. Janis Commentz is a painter living in the Mojave Desert where she teaches classes and workshops for the Desert Institute in Joshua Tree. She has a B.A. in art and British Literature from the University of Redlands and M.A. in Education - CSUSB. She exhibits in Southern California. Although Janis grew up near the coast, she believes desert beauty is an acquired taste and enjoys plein air painting in the Southwest. A third generation Californian and artist, Commentz, began drawing and painting early in life as the daughter of an artist At the University of Redlands, she earned a B.A. in art and English and studied printmaking with John Nava, well-known for his tapestries at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. She moved to the Mojave Desert in 1977 where she taught high school art and English until 2012.
Commentz has taught youth art classes at the 29 Palms Art Gallery, facilitated life drawing in Joshua Tree for eight years, is currently an instructor for the Desert Institute at Joshua Tree National Park and teaches painting workshops. She has exhibited at Gallery 62, Joshua Tree Art Gallery, the Purple Agave, Rainbow Stew, the 29 Palms Art Gallery in the Morongo Basin, T.E. Studios in Riverside, and the Redlands Art Association. Commentz participated in the Hwy 62 Open Studio Art Tours (ten seasons), Joshua Tree National Park Juried Art Exposition (six years), Joshua Tree National Park Spring Art Festival, Art Faire at California State University at San Bernardo and Art For Heaven's Sake, Redlands (three years). In 2013, she helped create the “Pop Up” Art Gallery in Joshua Tree, Six Chicks, which evolved into Gallery 62. Commentz served as Gallery Director for Gallery 62 during 2016. She has been the featured artist at Gallery 62, the Glass Outhouse Art Gallery and the 29 Palms Art Gallery. Janis was recently featured on the Desert Lady Diaries podcast. |
