Janet Lucas

Janet Smith Lucas Beck is an oil painter whose primary interest is portraying the atmosphere and the effects of light on subjects. Her favorite subjects include landscapes, street scenes, and figures.

When painting landscapes and street scenes, Janet references sketches and photographs that she has taken throughout her travels in the United States and Europe. She also occasionally paints on location or paints scenes from her imagination. For still life, she sets up porcelains, fresh flowers, and/or fruit and then proceeds to manipulate lighting and shadow to create an arrangement of contrasting shapes, colors, and textures. To create a variety of textures, Janet employs a combination of brushes and knives, applying thick paint to some areas while leaving other areas thinly painted. At times she paints “wet into wet” and other times she scumbles or glazes over dry paint. She works on several paintings at one time.

Janet studied painting under John Lonergan for many years and has taken classes or workshops from artists including Tom Browning, Mark Carder, Kim English, William Jameson, Charles Sovek, and Camille Przewodek. She has participated in numerous art shows in Birmingham, Nashville, and Knoxville. She was the featured artist for the Knoxville Heart Gala 2012 and 2007 and Webbfest Art Show 2004 in Knoxville. Her paintings are included in corporate and private collections across the United States, including Energen Corporation, Harbert Management Corporation, Alabama Power Company, Regions Bank, Oakworth Capital Bank, Cadence Bank, and Spring House Restaurant at Lake Martin.

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Janet lives in Birmingham, Alabama. She and her husband, Cary Beck, have five children and seven grandchildren. She is originally from Knoxville, Tennessee, and received a B.A. from the University of Virginia.