Where did the yellow dog come from?
I have been painting the yellow dog for 20 years. I associate the dog with intense pleasure. The dog has always been a vision. There has never been a flesh and fur dog. I consider myself lucky to be open to the dog and to seeing things that others may not see. The first time I saw the yellow dog was during sex. I had a lover who was highly sexually talented. My bedroom was in a renovated attic; all angles and crannies. It was a tiny room with just enough space for my bed and a tiny armchair by the undersized window overlooking the street. One night we were fucking. It was summer; one of those humid Ohio nights where you sweat and sweat. The neighbors had a bug zapper which cast a blue light through the other attic window. It was the first time I’d had violent sex as an adult, and I was crying in need. Suddenly I became aware that there was a large, overgrown yellow dog prowling in circles around my bed. The dog was lascivious and loving. I wanted to kiss the dog, hold the dog by its ruff and pull it towards me. The dog seemed to be epitome of passion and sexuality. I had “seen” dogs at several important and crucial junctures in my life prior to seeing this particular version of it, but this was when the dog became visible as the giant, yellow monster (and I use that word lovingly!) fiend that I paint today.

Is she a lesbian?
I’ll need to give a convoluted answer that addresses issues about orientation and also about gender. The dog never fucks men, so I’d guess you’d call her a dyke. But I’m not sure the dog has an orientation, or even a gender. As to the dog’s gender; the dog was born female. Even if the dog has a penis. Even with breasts. Even with both at once. The dog was born free, just like the song. Really, the dog is not female, nor male. However, if I was forced to pick a gender for the dog it would have to be female. The dog has gendered attributes that do not necessarily signify actual gender. Do breasts make you female? Balls make you male? Breasts and balls are pretty obvious, but what do they mean? Am I a female if I call myself female? Am I male if I have short hair or a male-identified name? If I say I’m male? How do you actually feel male or female; try lying on your bed at night and feeling gender. Trying to feel gender as a physical sensation is really interesting, and something I became obsessed with this past summer. The dog alone is a self-portrait. The dog, along with the woman that the dog sometimes appears with, is also a self-portrait. The dog is always with the woman, even if she is not in the painting. Each painting of the dog it isn’t really a dog alone, but a couple. So, when I paint the dog, it is really always the entity dog-girl which is also myself. The dog is the biggest love story I have ever seen. Since the dog and the girl together in the picture are as much a self-portrait as the dog without the girl in the picture-frame, the gender of the girl becomes necessary to address. It must be said that the girl is not male. She is more of a growling thing than a girl, she is more of a growling thing than a boy, and she is more of a growling thing than even a dog. The feeling of an interchange with the air and dirt around her is more weighty than her gender.

Are the themes of your paintings consciously lesbian?
Some of my narrative paintings depict scenarios that tell stories about dykes. Except for the yellow dog work, my work is all autobiographical, and as such reflects the people that I have known. I think that in general, my work reflects women’s issues more than lesbian issues, but that may be because the painting’s protagonists may be dykes but the particular story that is being told is more universal to all women, rather than just queer women. Several of my paintings also reflect bisexual issues. Oddly, I did not include men in my work until I’d been painting for over a decade.

What inspires you to paint?
I am inspired by my life. I have been fortunate to have had a fairly adventuresome life, and also have the ability to remember things in a very storied and vivid manner. It sometimes feels like my head is packed with the past waiting for me to recreate it. I love to paint, and love to find ways to re-express intense situations so that others can be a part of them.

Do you think your sexuality is relevant to your art?
Yes, and it is awkward. My sexual orientation is relevant, but more relevant to my art than my orientation is the relevance of the individual expression of my sexuality. My love of rough sex, and the connection that I make between spirituality and sex are highly relevant to my art. I find that making art is extremely sexually stimulating, and conversely that being turned on makes me want to make art. The dog/myself, spirituality, creativity, and sexuality are completely meshed.

Can art change the world?
Of course. Art helps people re-see the ordinary, thus helping them become more alive. And with their increased liveliness, they cannot help but to start to question their assumed values. And this brings change.

Do lesbians buy your art? Who else does?
Dykes have been very helpful in letting me use their public spaces to show my work, but I have not sold much work to them. The people that have bought my work have been art collectors in the alternative and queer communities. Folks tend to become engrossed by my work, but reluctant to hang it in their homes. They have told me that they find much of the non-dog work frightening and overwhelming. As a result, I have it hanging all over my apartment.

What, in your opinion, is the purpose/function of art?
On a personal level, art that I like makes my eyes and body happy. I get a physical thrill. Art makes my heart feel larger; like I’m part of the immensity of the world. Art’s function can be as varied as the interpretation of visual beauty, an expression of an emotion, or the remembrance of a culture by its depiction.

Assuming the yellow dog lives on after you, what do you think she would tell the world about you? What do you think the world would think about her?
These two questions go together since I’m the dog, and I’m also the girl. I’d like to think that the message about the dog/the girl/myself, spirituality, creativity, and sexuality being intertwined would be what the world would take from my dog paintings. I’d hope that folks could see that the dog is spiritual because I am the wholeness of the universe when I paint, and also when I am sexual. I’d like it if my art gave people the inspiration to access that kind of spiritual, creative, and sexual energy in their own lives.

Visit Jane @ her official website.