I was immediately touched and drawn in when viewing paintings of Jane Fletcher. It was the vibrancy of her colours and the subjects she had chosen that most intrigued me. Although we normally reserve our cover of The Expat for local artists, I liked the fact that Jane has taken on as her subject matter everyday Malaysians, particularly in their native environments and used her own perspective to portray them.

This is a perspective that has been honed by decades of traveling and living in countries away from her native New Zealand. She has lived in greater KL for almost 15 years while still extensively traveling the Southeast Asia region, in particular Indonesia and the Philippines.

Her husband, Gavin, is the General Manager of The Gardens Hotel & Residences in the Mid Valley Mall complex.

Jane has a professional background in fashion, design and art history which motivated her to start painting while she was staying in the Philippines in 2002. She has always loved the Old Masters, especially Rembrandt and endeavors to put her own interpretations on the canvas while being deeply influenced by his style and techniques.

“I am a realism painter in the tradition of Rembrandt,” she relates to me. “His paintings are so vibrant and lifelike, that they transport the viewer into a different world altogether.

It is this sense of real life that I try to recreate by firstly photographing a scene that catches my eye. Then I sketch it out and then commence painting it onto my canvas. I prefer to work in oils or acrylics and sometimes a mixture of both as these mediums give the strongest and deepest effects impact to the viewer.”

Jane continues, “I love capturing the unique and indomitable spirit of the Malaysia people in their everyday environment as well as highlighting their keen sense of various architectural motifs. Although I get homesick for New Zealand at times, I truly love the passion and pace I find here in Malaysia and feel blessed to be living here as a part of it all.”

Jane was a well known and highly successful artist when she lived in New Zealand. In the spirit of this holiday season, she has agreed to sell the paintings on these two pages for a very low price. I personally think they would make lovely gifts or even better, if you are soon to leave Malaysia, taking a Jane Fletcher painting with you as a reminder of your time here is also a great idea.

Please contact me at [email protected] to arrange viewing appointments or for any other information.

Happy Holidays to all art lovers!

Source: The Expat December 2011 Issue

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This article has been edited for ExpatGoMalaysia.com