Jan Shapiro | The Art of Seeing

For most of my professional life, I worked as a visual designer, building a career around composition, color, and the art of visual storytelling. Yet painting was always there—a passion that remained quietly in the background, waiting for its moment.

After more than 30 years in design, I realized it was time to give painting the place in my life it had always deserved. For the first time, I was ready to embrace it wholeheartedly. What had lived quietly alongside my design career became the focus of an exciting new chapter—one I stepped into with curiosity, determination, and a renewed sense of possibility.

Today, I'm a Boston-based contemporary artist whose paintings explore the connection between place, memory, and emotion.

Much of my work begins outdoors, where I paint and sketch directly from life. I'm drawn to the changing light of a city street, reflections after the rain, the quiet beauty of a garden, or the atmosphere of a coastal landscape. These moments often become the starting point for paintings that continue to evolve long after I've returned to my studio.

Working primarily in oils, I build layers of color and texture through expressive palette knife work and brushstrokes, occasionally incorporating gold leaf. My process is both observational and intuitive. While a painting may begin with a recognizable place, I allow memory, imagination, and emotion to guide its evolution, often moving toward abstraction.

Boston remains a constant source of inspiration. Its historic brownstones, hidden gardens, lively streets, and ever-changing light offer endless possibilities. My travels throughout New England and abroad also influence my work, but I'm equally captivated by the beauty found in familiar, everyday surroundings.

I now paint from my studio in Boston's SoWa Art + Design District, where I continue to explore new directions, experiment with materials, and discover unexpected connections between landscape and abstraction.

Painting has given me a renewed sense of discovery, joy, and purpose. My hope is that my work invites others to pause, look a little closer, and find something that resonates with their own experiences.

Some places stay with us long after we've left them.