Jan Stiver

Artist’s Biography

(541) 421-3800
jstiver @ my180.net

Born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska and raised in the foothills of South Dakota’s Black Hills on a horse and cattle ranch, Jan Stiver grew up in an artistic and musical family. She learned to play piano and guitar at a very young age, inspired by the piano playing of her paternal grandmother. A childhood spent on horseback moving cattle and horses in the solitary grasslands along the Cheyenne River fed her visual sensitivity. At the age of 14 she sold her first oil painting of bison in the historic Buffalo Gap landscape to a man from Holland.

She pursued her love of music and art in college, playing guitar and singing to help pay her tuition, then continued as a professional singer/songwriter for the next two decades. Throughout her career, she continued to draw and paint, growing as an artist as well as a musician.

She returned to school to study illustration, sculpture and photography, refining her art skills with a focus on oil painting and sculpture. Through her diverse experiences in the arts, she has collected extensive resource material for her work, sketching and photographing during artist rides, workshops, and extensive travels through Canada and much of the West.

In addition, she teaches art and music as an Artist-in-Residence in schools of Eastern Oregon. Two years ago, Jan, in partnership with Dr. John Buckhouse of Oregon State University, developed an integrated art and science field trip that has been recognized and promoted by the Society of Range Management. Young students keep her stretching, and the artist maintains that she learns as much from them as they learn from her.

Recently, she finished a commissioned sculpture of a life-sized horse that was installed in the Portland area. She usually completes several commissioned paintings each year along with independently produced art, frequently using her ranching neighbors, the land, and the animals in her region as models and inspiration for new work.

Jan resides in a remote area in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon.