Jan Farrell; painter
Hyfler/Rosner
Painter and teacher whose dazzling work was rooted in the
natural order
Patrick Adamson
Monday May 8, 2006
The Guardian
Soon after moving to London in 1968, the artist Jan Farrell,
who has died suddenly at the age of 60, came to the
realisation that "painters must paint", and that she had to
bow to the inevitable by earning a complementary living. In
her work as a further education lecturer, she displayed a
true teacher's commitment to enabling others to achieve
their creative potential.
Her own work sometimes used collage to great effect: she
combined a sense of colour with the abstraction of torn
paper or canvas. In recent years she was inspired by a love
of Dorset and Tuscany, yet her work was always rooted in the
essential qualities of the great colourists like Pierre
Bonnard, and was masterful in imbuing a painting with the
characteristic qualities of the paint itself.
Her later work possesses a sense of immediacy and energy
akin to gestural expressionism, yet is remarkable for its
vibrancy of colour and uncanny sympathy with the essence of
natural phenomena. She had been looking forward to a
retirement of total creativity, but none the less she leaves
a body of work that uses paint to create a perfect sense of
composition with colour.
She exhibited whenever possible: at the Royal College of
Art's annual RCA Secret fundraising exhibition (where
postcard-sized works have to be bought for their artists to
be revealed), at the Royal Watercolour Society, at the
Hidden Art of Hackney, and elsewhere. In 2000 she took part
in the Famous British Women Artists exhibition in London.
Born Jan Jeavons in Wolverhampton, she attended Bilston high
school for girls, gained a foundation diploma at Birmingham
College of Art (1964-65) and studied painting at Bath
Academy of Art (1965-68), graduating with a BA in fine art.
During her time there, she met Simon Farrell, a photography
student, and they married in 1974.
Jan's painting career began during the halcyon period of
British abstract art. She filled sketchbooks with copious
studies observed from life; in the studio she worked quickly
and directly, manipulating form and space to give her work
an elemental quality that was a symbiosis of the figurative
and abstract.
In 1969, she gained an art teacher's certificate from the
Institute of Education in London. Following posts in
secondary education, in 1992 she became coordinator of art
and design at Cordwainers College, in Hackney, east London.
Cordwainers was unique in being devoted to vocational
education in footwear. Art and design was introduced to
widen the curriculum, and Jan's ability to encourage
students, often from deprived backgrounds, to see beyond
their immediate environment was exemplary.
Incorporation of further education colleges in 1993 meant
that such small, specialist institutions could not survive.
But of the subjects offered by Cordwainers, footwear design
was an attractive proposition for the London College of
Fashion (LCF), which took the college over in 2000. After a
period as an academic site manager, Jan was promoted to an
academic quality coordinator's role, though she continued to
teach visual studies on the foundation diploma.
With a completely unassuming manner, she combined her
passion for art with an empathy for those she taught. She
gave unstintingly of her time and used her sense of fun to
defuse moments of stress. Her experience was also recognised
by other institutions: she was an external examiner for De
Montfort (Leicester), Nottingham Trent, Oxford Brookes and
Thames Valley universities.
In recognition of Jan's contribution to art education, the
LCF at the University of the Arts London held a memorial
service in March. The university has also set up the Jan
Farrell scholarship fund to support talented students.
Jan's marriage ended in separation. She is survived by her
three children from it, Lucy, Alice and Jack, and her
partner, Michael Leek.
· Jan Amelia Farrell, painter and teacher, born October 3
1945; died March 14 2006