About the Artist

 

 

I am Megan Jane Walker Steffens, the artist behind Megga Jane Art. My artist journey began as a way to communicate whether it was scribbling poetry on scrap paper in a movie theater or painting trees on the wall in my closet. A part of me felt disconnected from my voice especially when growing up. But I found art as a way to showcase my thoughts and feelings-even those I didn't realize I had. Through my journey up and down Florida, and through a decade long career in instructional design I kept leaning on painting and poetry.

My initial spark with painting began with my Grandmother, she adored painting… always stowing away in her studio in the garage to paint on ceramics, and fire them in the kiln. Her and my aunt (that found her own love for painting alongside my Grandmother) held classes for all the grandchildren teaching us how to paint on tiles. As the youngest, I spent my time mixing all the colors together into puke green. That was the start of my love for painting. And that young girl that wants nothing more than to mix all the colors together is still very much alive in my soul…just with some refinement.  

Throughout my time in school and in various jobs, I always felt like free time was slipping through my fingers, but I always came back to painting. I was really drawn to acrylics, they mimicked the same childhood wonder of mixing all the colors together without abandon, while fitting into a life where I was moving every 9-12 months and needed room for books and a computer.  Most of the time I felt overwhelmed and exhausted, but I always came back to painting in whatever way I was able to show up. For many, many years that was creating color melds and simply playing with paint on a canvas.

  • At times when my mind felt clear I would experiment with adding subjects to the my paints, generally something simple that I could see in my mind.

  • I started being inspired by the nature around me, especially plants that were gifted to me. I wanted to mimic the textures of our world and create something you can reach out and touch.

  • And then there were times that my mind was clouded. But I kept on painting whenever I could. No plan or thought, but still space to feel what I needed to.

Throughout my journey as a painter, I have always loved capturing abstract color in a way that keeps the viewer's eye moving across a canvas. My style has evolved with that same soul of movement, and now with elements that keep the viewer grounded into the real world even if for just moment. I use techniques to add texture that I've spent years experimenting with and evolving, I use shine and reflection, I use the dirt from my favorite flower patch and sand from the beach that healed me. I fuel each painting with feeling and intuition, painting first then thinking later. With each finished piece I reflect on what I made, why I was drawn to the subject, the colors... and write a poem on the back of the canvas. I think of each painting as a part of me, my journey through life and my hope is to find an audience that can find themselves in my art too. Allow themselves the moment to pause in the world, find their own feelings if they need to...their own joy and calm or maddness and frustration.