“Jan Donley’s 2024 Art Video.” Artwork and narration by Jan Donley. Video and music production by Stewart Clifford.

Artist, Writer, Teacher

My family moved often when I was a kid—-from Oklahoma to Louisiana to Wyoming to Texas to Colorado. As a young adult, I continued the pattern of moving, spending time in Arizona, Oklahoma, Indiana, Missouri, Vermont, Massachusetts—and now, New York.

With all that moving around, I never truly felt a sense of home.

I have spent most of my life writing fiction, poetry, and plays. Along the way, I carried a dream to combine visual images with words. As an adult, I studied art with traditional tools and then found my medium unexpectedly with a digital tablet as my canvas.

For years, I have taught writing and literature. My students come from all over the world, and they remind me that home is fragile and varied and elusive. Just the word “home” can bring a smile or a tear.

I suppose I draw and paint and write in an attempt to locate home, some center point that grounds me.