From the Fire

Paintings to Honor the Sojourn of the Syrian Refugees 2016


I have created these paintings to honor those who have suffered loss of home or loved ones through the egregious misfortune of war. The first paintings reveal the fire and destruction endured by the exodus of people from war torn countries, the second group of these paintings reveal a hopeful healing process for these refugees.

These paintings are mixed media on masonite blocks. Each painting is 8" x 10."

These paintings will be exhibited at the Louisville "Oneness Center" starting March 12, 2016 through the month of June. The address for the Oneness Center is: 10845 Bluegrass Parkway, Louisville, KY.

I welcome you to view these paintings: “Coming Out of the Fire.” I’m a painter, sculptor, photographer and writer of short stories & children’s stories containing my illustrations & poetry. Over the years, I’ve enjoyed teaching Visual Arts at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Indiana University, the University of Louisville and Kentucky State. Besides creating my own original works of art & exhibiting, I currently teach at Western Hills High School in Frankfort, Kentucky.

My creative process combines a mixture of media, including acrylic, pastel, colored pencil & Photoshop. To achieve the ‘atmospheric abstraction’ seen in my work, I especially make use of transparent layering. The size or scale of my pieces can often rely on the Nano image scale with the larger scale of an atmospheric universal firmament orientation to present ‘a microcosm of a microcosm’. That means both realities are visible at once, which creates a paradox or sense perceptive omnipotence in the viewer, much like being able to see that which is hidden by virtue of manipulation within a constructed reality.

In the spring of 2007, I was fortunate to be included in the first International Nano Art Exhibit in Finland, an exhibit of artists working with electron microscope images as a basis for creative exploration! I have also exhibited in several countries, including Japan, South Korea, Spain, Peru & Austria, as well as throughout the United States.

To see options for purchasing these images as prints on paper, framed, on stretched canvas, or metal, or as totebags, cell phone covers, throw pillows, duvet covers shower curtains, or t-shirts, click this link: janis-kirstein.fineartamerica.com



Thank you for viewing my paintings and, please, contact me with any questions you may have about the works.