The jumping off point for this Country Art and Design Collection is my travel and documentary photography work: a love of rodeos, horses, Mediterranean landscapes, the Pine Barrens of New Jersey and of course all the people I have met along the way.
Featured panorama by Janet Greco in "Pine Barrens Life and Legends", a 2015 exhibition at the Noyes Museum of Art and and book and book by Stockton University Press.
Driving the back roads of New Jersey was always a favorite pasttime. I cruised all over with Elly May, my little shihtzu who is named after the Beverly Hillbillies character.
Elly May provided all the company I needed as I undertook a vast exploration of the famed New Jersey Pine Barrens. I even went to banjo camp.
At the time, I was living deep in the Pine Barrens, channeling my inner log lady.
And then I rediscovered Cowtown. Yes, a rodeo in New Jersey. In fact it is the longest running weekly rodeo in the United States. At Cowtown, I got permission from the owners, Betsy and Grant Harris, to shoot from behind the stocks on a regular basis.
Let me tell you, a rodeo is hands down one of the most exciting events to photograph, and if I had enough years left in this lifetime, my dream would be to become a Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA) accredited photographer.
A rule of shooting when you are at Cowtown is that you have to dress the part, because the event is televised. I am never happier than when I am wearing my cowgirl gear.
For now, I am more than happy to make do with using the imagery as one of the jumping off points for the art in my country collections.
My Cowtown work was featured in the 2016 exhibition "American Rodeo" in Barcelona. (Those original, limited edition prints are available here.)
It's true that my drives around South Jersey, and my time in the Mediterranean too, have inspired some wild imaginings for interior decor.
Rusted-out trains and tractors or some crazy rednecks with their monster trucks speak to me in the form of "cushions" or the wall art you see featured above. Then there are the weathered industrial warehouse paintings, now gone, which I envision as a collection of American Star rugs.
And then there are the rock walls and idyllic scenes of Menorca, for everything from wall art to textiles and everything in-between!
Where ever I am it seems there is always a little bit of the country gal in me. There's an endless source of inspiration there. Stay tuned, there is much more to come!
