Meet Janice Bogy | Contemporary Wildlife Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Janice Bogy and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Janice, is there something you can share with us that those outside of the industry might not be aware of?
The amount of time and effort it takes to be a professional artist. Creating art is only the tip of the iceberg. Honing artistic skills is a lifetime process. As a wildlife artist, it means hours out in the field observing behaviors, understanding the animal in its environment and collecting photos for reference. Hours spent combining reference photos and working out composition. All of that before any work on the actual piece takes place. I work primarily in scratchboard. It is a slow medium requiring millions of tiny scratches to remove the black ink to create the image. Most professional artists I know are also their own marketing staff, framing staff, etc. It’s a one-person business.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Art, music and dogs are the three passions of my life. I often claim I was born with a pencil in my hand for I cannot remember a time when I wasn’t drawing, but music became my dominate artistic voice for most of my adult life. As a classical harpist in Washington, D.C., my favorite gig was playing for the opening receptions at the National Gallery of Art. Retiring to Montana, meant it was finally time for the visual arts. It’s been less than 10 years since I became serious about showing professionally. In that time, I have been juried into the Internatioanl Society of Scratchboard Artists and the Society of Animal Artists. I have participated in shows at the Briscoe Western Art Museum, The Mountain Oyster Club, Sedona, Jackson Hole, The Great Western Art Show (Great Falls, MT during Charlie Russell week) and various shows in Texas, Arizona, North Carolina. I am honored and humbled to have my art accepted into these venues and to have collectors choosing to add my art to their collections.

I love to draw, so I became addicted to scratchboard from the moment I tried it. It’s the reversal of pen and ink where the drawing is made by scratching off the black ink to reveal white clay underneath. The museum grade boards from Ampersand are a far cry from the paper we used in grade school. They are a masonite board covered with white clay covered with India ink. The drawing is made by scratching off the black ink with a sharp tool. I use #11 Xacto blades and tattoo needles. The clay is porous, so color can be added with watercolor or colored inks once the scratching is done.

There are many fabulous wildlife artists. My goal is to portray the personality of the animal – the uniqueness of that particular animal. Almost all of work is from animals I have personally observed and photographed. I want the viewer to get to know that particular animal. Wildlife habitat is shrinking and we’re losing species. I think it’s important to bring these marvelous creatures to those who do not have the opportunity to otherwise see them.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Definitely spend time in the gallery district of Scottsdale. Allow a day at the Museum of Musical Instruments. Try the small hole-in-wall Mexican restaurants that are so abundant – they’re fabulous.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
In 2015 I enrolled in the Montana Artrepreneur Program (MAP for short) developed by the Montana Arts Council. It’s mission is to train artists to have sustainable businesses in their creative fields. While teaching business skills is a primary goal, it also requires an artist to have a solid understanding of what makes their artistic skills unique – to believe in themselves and to have the confidence that their art is sustainable as a business. It also creates a community of artists who support each other. Living in rural Montana, the connections we made with each other were and continue to be invaluable.

Website: www.JaniceGBogy.com

Instagram: janicebogy

Facebook: Janice Bogy

Image Credits
All my own images