About the Artist
Born in Sweden, Jan [Jon] Erik Dormsjo [dorms – joe] grew up in Garden City Long Island, well after the Hempstead Plains had ceased to be the largest prairie East of the Mississippi. To understand his late foray into art one must know Jan was a middle child, preceded in grade school by an older brother gifted athletically, socially and intellectually. Charitably speaking a mushroom in his brother’s shadow, Jan had one early ‘gift’ – art – with his crayon & color pencil work often selected out by the visiting art teacher as exemplary. He even was admitted to the John Nagy School of Art – before they knew his tender age. Regrettably, a 7th grade first ever foray into oils had his masterpiece ‘Tahitian Nude Bathing in Mountain Stream’ unleashing an angry hornet’s nest of young girls swarming off to the school’s nearby church rectory in blind outrage. [Did I mention this was a parochial school?]. As luck would have it, a quick intercept by one of the nuns and a conference with his mother – where its rumored they concluded Jan was likely not priestly material in the making – he was booted over to the public school system where he immediately went on Honor Roll, was voted Most Artistic in his senior class, graduated Notre Dame University, served as a Naval Officer in the Far East during Vietnam, attained a MBA from New York University’s School of Business and yet… from that early kerfuffle with oil and angry hornets, he never touched oil paints again… forget any nudes in tropical waters! [One can only speculate if his mother had been more prescient, he might have been packed off to an art academy, all else looking so grim at the time]
As it turned out, it was all good with a career that took him from Thailand to Tahiti, New Zealand to Egypt, to the deepest rainforests in Brazil – well everywhere, even Rome – meeting an array of interesting people along the journey. Well into retirement, Jan was gifted clay studio classes making three-dimensional clay triptychs and art pottery. Sadly, the dawn of COVID temporarily closed the studio. It didn't help that the owner opined 'it takes nearly 20 years to master a thin, perfect vase and all the glazes'... likely beyond his expiration date [then there is the F150 needed to truck one's creations to various craft events]. So, as this era appeared to be closing, Jan’s wife gifted him a set of oil paints & several canvasses in early 2021. Many months and paintings later, Jan continues to explore the ‘path not taken’. A chance at redemption but with no regrets for the friends, family and a life both blessed and well enjoyed. With no formal training and little time for video instruction, Jan draws inspiration from his travels, the natural whorls and swirls in fine grained wood, the dimples in ceramic floor tiles, and by contemplating the light dancing through stained glass church windows…. not to mention the occasional color-storm that sweeps across the back of his eyelids when drifting off to sleep.
It’s all about his approach to life, one less wrapped up in angst and suffering but more grasping at wondrous images beyond his brush strokes – L’ Chaim.
