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Billy Janis: An artist with a passion for history





Billy J. Janis’ fine watercolors explore the passion and history of the Lakota People

Billy J. Janis’ fine watercolors explore the passion and history of the Lakota People

PINE RIDGE – Billy J. Janis is young, talented and very busy. Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Janis, a member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, spends his days and nights carefully mixing colors and layering watercolor paint onto his 2-dimensional creations.

He paints from the heart of what he knows, the Lakota people and culture, making his world come to life in water color, pencil, and acrylic media,. He demonstrates his affinity with Lakota history and tradition in his paintings of Lakota women, men and children of past generations.

 

 

While Janis integrates the past with the present, interpreting his environment through paintings of modern day animals and landscapes that grace the badlands and hills, the human form is his first love. Janis said, “My art is based mostly upon true form and detail of the human figure. Since grade school I have been intrigued with the structure of the facial and hand anatomy…this is where I have excelled…” “To store a memory of our indigenous people” through hand painted replicas of actual photographs, many of which are in the original rotogravure color scheme, “is the most important vision and mission I have decided to pursue. My imagination turns back to a time in history of our people, I see through century old photographs. The color, quality and its fine detail have intrigued me to become a tool to help preserve a memory that should never be forgotten.”

 

 

Although interpreting the history and preserving the memory of the Lakota people is his main objective, Janis said he is inspired by all things “…seeing the beauty of art all around us. It is what makes our world a livable space. From the design of the universe, this world and all that exist naturally, to the very thought of action, from concept first, to giving it life we use.”

 

 

Janis sees “art in everything.” He continued by offering a glimpse into his creative world and how the mind of the artist wanders down paths of form and color to breathe new imaginings into artistic expression, “Perhaps it was just a dab of ink, a stroke of one line, one shape within a fellow artist’s creation; or just maybe it could have been an unfinished picture that never saw [its] end. It could have been the texture of [a] surface, the color I see as a distant array of pure vividness, the gradient of which fills the sky, the sun, which illuminates the silhouette of a tree; for whatever I observe, it all brings my reality into a creative realm of perspective.

Another example of Billy J. Janis’ history-based artwork.

Another example of Billy J. Janis’ history-based artwork.

He eloquently expressed how he stays motivated to stay in top form. “Although self-motivation is a challenge for many artists, for me specifically, it always begins with visualizing a beautifully finished image.” Janis explained that “challenge is not necessarily the correct term to define an artist’s method [of turning] imagination into visual experience. Precision and patience leads to a quality of appreciation of oneself before presenting to the world.”

Janis remarked that for the artist, it is the fulfillment of a personal sense of wholeness, “rendering each piece” an extension of personal refinement not a reflection of someone else’s expectations, or of what others say and think. “Because each piece becomes very personal, it is hard to disconnect from its presence.” As a result, Janis “can rest assured” that each of his creations is treasured by each collector.

As Janis completes each project he has learned to refer to each of his paintings as a “masterpiece…not an egotistical reference to my nature as an artist,” he explained, but rather as a way to appreciate and “encourage myself… to keep striving forward with the best of an ability that [is] gifted upon me.”

Elucidating his vision and goals for the future Billy discerned that one fulfillment of his vision, being recognized for his contributions in the art world and by the public “was never my main interest for presenting my work. Not to say I have isolated myself from the world; but rather, I have embraced the opportunities my skill allowed to let in.” Janis indicated, “On a lighter note, I have challenged myself to complete one hundred masterpieces as a beginning project for my own collection.”

No one is more appreciative of Janis’ art than Janis himself. He is ever grateful for the ability bestowed upon him and considers his talent a gift is every sense of the word. “I would like to thank foremost our creator, most high, for all that has been gifted upon me. Through this gift I am allowed to share with the world my every vision and memory. The appreciation I feel for everyone who has continued to believe in what I have done thus far in my life… all of the true support everyone has expressed in some way… is what helps me to keep searching for a place to be in this world.”

(Contact Aliyah Keuthan at kestreldancing@gmail.com)


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