Jan Owen

An older light-skinned woman with short white hair wears glasses and a long-sleeve blue top. She stands inside, holding open a large black book with an abstract gold design printed across two pages and unreadable gold writing.

Jan Owen at the 2015 NMWA Book Arts Fellows Meeting; Photo by Laura Hoffman, NMWA

Born in 1947

Owen grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. She graduated in 1969 from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where she focused on art and English. After moving to Bangor, Maine, she worked as printmaker and graphic designer.

With the birth of twin daughters in 1978, she began teaching herself calligraphy. She has since studied calligraphy and book arts in the U.S. and Great Britain and has taught classes for many years. Musically talented as well, she played string bass with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra until 1994.

Artist Details

  • Name

    Jan Owen

  • Birth

    New York City, 1947

  • Phonetic Spelling

    JAN OH-wehn

Works by Jan Owen

  • The Sun

    Jan Owen is known for her exquisite calligraphic rendition of poetry. Her unique books are best displayed hanging on a wall. They include poems that she selects, which often contain deep messages relevant to today’s world.

    For her work The Sun, Owen included an excerpt from William Blake’s poem “Night,” which imagines a world where a lion can lie down with a...

    View Artwork Details
    An open, accordion-style book with red-pink pages and black text. The word "Sun" is written in large, Gothic print at the upper left. At center-right is a large, black brushstroke that extends the length of the page. At the upper right is a golden circle.

    Jan Owen, The Sun, 1995; Gouache, paper, 22 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Jan Owen; Photo by Lee Stalsworth

  • First Brush Stroke

    Jan Owen says that First Brush Stroke (Books 1, 2, and 3) began “with three long panels of golden yellow paste paper. Just as I was considering what words to write, one of my favorite poets, John Tagliabue, sent me a poem that became the key: ‘The first brush stroke, now where will we go?…Order will be made like still music.’ All...

    View Artwork Details
    Three vertical panels of warm yellow paper with faint black text. A large, black, calligraphic flourish is on the central panel, extending slightly onto each of the side panels. Three golden squares are superimposed at intervals, vertically, on top of the black flourish in the central panel.

    Jan Owen, First Brush Stroke (Books 1, 2, and 3), 2001; Acrylic on paste paper, Each panel: 14 1/2 x 14 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Museum purchase: Members' Acquisition Fund; © Jan Owen