Featured Artist Jane McElvany Coonce: Playing with Light

"The way light falls on an object has always fascinated me.  In paintings and in sculpture, I strive to capture the interesting effect that light plays on the subject." So says Gallery Underground featured artist Jane McElvany Coonce of her work.

Coonce works in acrylic, oil, pastel, watercolor and terra cotta. She is known for her beautiful oil paintings of bridges in and around Arlington County and Washington, D.C., especially Key Bridge with a view to Georgetown. She is also adept at portraits - both the human and animal kind - and does still lifes, landscapes and murals. She travels extensively, teaching watercolor on cruise ships. This affords her a rich collection of images to paint from, both during these trips and back at home, where she works from photos.

"An Evening in Georgetown" Oil by Jane McElvany Coonce

 Having been in the art field for over 35 years, Coonce's works are held by private collectors, and her corporate collectors include the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland,  the International Country Club of Fairfax, Virginia, Georgetown University, and the Rickover Naval Academy.  She has won numerous awards for both her paintings and her sculptures, including first prize at the International Miniature Society of Washington,D.C. in 2000 and first prize in the plein air competion of Kensington in 2005.  

Coonce was a featured artist in Elan Magazine, June 2004, with her art work appearing on the cover.  In the Spring of 2007, she was the featured artist at NBC News in Washington, D.C.  In the summer of 2002, she had a solo exhibit at Northern Virginia Community College, Alexandria Campus. One of her paintings was featured on the cover of the Washington Post Magazine, Oct. 14, 2001 and The Olde Town Crier, April 2001. Her work is  featured in the newly published book, How Did You Paint That?  100 Ways to Paint Still Lifes and Florals Vol. II , published by International Artist Publishing. Prints and cards by the artist are carried at  Georgetown University. In 2005, she was commissioned to do the portrait of Admiral Hyman Rickover, the father of the nuclear submarine.  Her work is represented by The Kevin Butler Gallery in Martha’s Vineyard, MA  and in West Hampton, N.Y, Aerie Art Gallery in Rehoboth, DE, and Gallery Underground in Arlington, VA.

"Red Light District" Oil by Jane McElvany Coonce

Coonce has been an art instructor for Arlington County Adult Education since 1980, teaching many members of the Arlington Artists Alliance.  She presently teaches at Wilson School in Arlington.  She was the founder and president for 9 years of the Arlington Artists Alliance and is the former vice president of the Miniature Society of Painters, Sculptors, and Gravers of Washington, D.C., former 1st Vice President of The Art League  board at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria,Va. and former President of the McLean Art Society. Presently, she is the Vice President of the Arlington Artists Alliance and the Executive Director of the Northern Virginia Art Cener.  She is a member of the Potomac Valley Watercolorists and is  an Associate Member of the Oil Painters of America.

Born in Washington, D.C., Jane was raised in Arlington, Virginia and still resides there with her husband and three sons.

"The Pigeon Lady" Watercolor by Jane McElvany Coonce

--Sandi Parker, Gallery Underground Co-Director