Janet Marion Simmons was born in Bristol, PA. Besides a few forays to other parts of the east coast — living in Maryland, Washington, DC and New York City — has not strayed far from her birth place of Bristol, and now lives on the other side of the Delaware River in Central New Jersey. From an early interest in drawing and sculpting, J. Marion went on to pursue art in college receiving a BFA from University of Maryland, and an MFA from School of Visual Art, NYC.
Artist Statement
Sculpture has a physical presence, it can be touched, be part of our environment. Formulating my own clay body and glazes, I create free standing figures, animals, reliefs, portraits, and objects of nature(eggs), to capture the essence of an emotion, a state of mind, or a story. When designing utilitarian art, like garden pots and sconces, I strive to blur the boundary between fine and functional art. Each piece is an original and takes many hours to complete. All items are high fired in a kiln to 2185 degrees F, and are frost resistant.
Gallery/Museum Shows
- Mercer County Artist Exhibit, The Gallery, West Windsor, NJ(multiple years)
- TAWA Portrait Show, The Gallery, West Windsor, NJ
- Ellarslie Open, Ellarslie Museum, Trenton, NJ(multiple years)
- The Juried Art Show, Phillips Mill, New Hope, PA(multiple years)
- Art Council of Princeton Exhibition, Princeton, NJ
- University Medical Center of Princeton Gallery solo exhibit, Plainsboro, NJ
- Gallery 125, Trenton, NJ
- BSB Gallery, Trenton, NJ
- Thompson Park Art Center, Monmouth, NJ
- The Barron Arts Center, Woodbridge, NJ