Jan Gaumnitz was born in New Ulm, Minnesota, living on a farm for almost seven years. It was during this time that she was encouraged by a relative to express herself through drawing and coloring. Her favorite subject matter has always involved nature in some form - human, animals and birds, landscape and so on. Gaumnitz feels fortunate to have an interest that brings her into contact with intelligent people who are always ready for new ideas, the latest materials, techniques, friendships and adventuresome experiences.
The idea for Prairie Winds came from the Kansas landscape with winds blowing the grasses, forming patterns as it moves across the hills. Central Industrial Sheet Metal Works, in Kansas City, provided the iron sheet metal with patterns cut out for commercial uses. I chose interesting shapes that seemed even more exciting when overlapped to create more dimensionality. The selected pieces were welded together and “rolled” through a large machine to suggest the movement of grasses. The light blue color was chosen to reflect the sky on a sunny day.
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