Jan Fontecchio

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Jan Fontecchio was raised on a horse ranch in the low desert. She spent her childhood riding in the wilds of the washes and hills, where her interest in wildlife and western life began. These are the scenes that inspired her first drawings...and her first sculpture; a rearing horse made entirely of baling wire. "Baling wire was always in plentiful supply!" she says. 

“I’ve done art since my first memory,” states Jan Fontecchio. “My parents say I drew a three-dimensional wedge of cheese when I was three. I don’t remember that, but my book covers at school were covered in sketches. A pencil was always in my hand, and if the teacher didn’t grab my tests quickly enough, there might be a little horse drawn in the corner of the paper.” 

When Fontecchio was 10, a family friend who worked as an artist for Disney drew a horse portrait in charcoal for her. “I think it took him two minutes or something. That little demo made me believe I could be an artist, too!”

While earning a degree in fine art, she worked at several wild animal and big cat rescues, including the Wildlife Way Station, a non-profit sanctuary that for over 43 years has housed, and rehabilitated more than 77,000 wild animals; and the Shambala Preserve, (where she's pictured with Boomer, below) which provides sanctuary to wild felines.  Later, while working as a craftsman at Six Flags in Los Angeles, Fontecchio befriended one of the dolphin trainers, and was hired as the trainer’s partner. She cared for and trained dolphins; a glorious time for her. Every experience added to Fontecchio’s captivation with animals: their form, their thought process, their movement and grace and beauty.  “I became especially fascinated with the musculature of animals in stressful situations: stalking, fighting, running, etc., and in the case of dolphins, swimming and leaping.”

Fontecchio has explored this world of wildlife in a variety of mediums wire. She has sculpted in wire, clay, and blown glass, and provided graphic illustrations for NASA projects and publications. A stamped leather cover found itself on a Hollywood movie (“I wish I could remember the name of the movie, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a blockbuster or anything!”). From there she moved to watercolor, then to pastel, and finally to oil, which she calls her dream medium. 

Today, her studio space is Fontecchio’s sanctuary, filled with her collection of skulls, furs, Indian artifacts, cactus skeletons, a vintage can of her dad’s favorite beer, and the skin from the rattlesnake that Fontecchio shot in the barn when she was 15: (“It was coiled, so there are three bullet holes in the skin”).  Jan is a member of the American Plains Artists, Women Artists of the West, Oil Painters of America, and the Out West Artists. Through the latter, she has participated in Western Art Week in Great Falls, MO, the biggest art show of western and wildlife art in the U.S., revolving around the CM Russell Art Auction. Her art resides in the homes of collectors throughout the nation — including the CEO of Exxon Mobil — as well as collector's homes from England to South America to Australia. In 2016, her painting, “On the Upper Pecos”, was juried into the prestigious London, UK, show, The Wildlife Artist of the Year Exhibition. What makes this notable event extra memorable is that it represented the first time she applied for this particular show.