The saying “Good art doesn’t have to match your sofa” was not coined by Janet Paduh, the owner of Southwind Art Gallery and Framewoods in Topeka, but it’s definitely her philosophy. She likes it so much that she had signs made with this phrase to hang around the gallery.
“People will say, ‘Well, my sofa is this color, so I don’t think this will go,’” she says.” I convince them to try it, and then I’ll get an email a couple weeks later saying how wonderful it looks.”
Janet knew from an early age that she wanted to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her mother, Jane Stephens, was a well-known watercolorist, and Janet was already showing a talent for it.
“I loved coloring books and paint-by-numbers and my mom was amazed I didn’t color or paint outside the lines,” she says.
By junior high school, Janet was into detailed drawing and watercolors, and in high school, she was fortunate enough to have her talent fostered by a dedicated art teacher named Mr. Fleming.
“In senior year, I had him for four hours every morning,” she says. “He told me that I had already had painting down, but there were a lot of other kinds of art forms.”
So first she mentioned she wanted to weave, and the next day there was a loom in the classroom. Instead of using the usual one or two colors, she used seven. She then moved on to jewelry making and casting, sculpture, and many other artistic skills. Years later, she asked her mother if she and her father had paid extra for all those materials, since she even made a gold ring, but the answer was no. It was all Mr. Fleming.
Over the last 20 years, Janet has also expanded into using acrylics. She is currently working on some paintings depicting her furry companion at the gallery, a tortoiseshell cat named Sadie Jane. “The cat greets people, and they sometimes come in just to pet her.”
Southwind Art Gallery is not the first gallery Janet has owned. She and her late husband, Ron, who was in the U.S. Air Force, lived in both Texas and Oklahoma after they were married. Janet opened galleries in San Antonio and Oklahoma City, and enjoyed showing other artists’ works.
When her husband passed away in 2016 after 43 years of marriage, Janet moved back home to Topeka to be near her mom, who was in failing health. Shortly after, in January of 2019, she acquired Southwind Gallery and got busy renovating the 2,400 square feet of space, which also includes a custom frame shop.
She made it lighter and brighter, and painted the walls different colors, such as teal, soft gray-green, off white, light blue, gold, and cinnamon. “I wanted people to be able to see the art against different color backgrounds,” says Janet.
She also brought in a lot more art, and at all different price ranges. “We have oils, acrylics, pastels, silk painting, watercolors, fabric art such as quilts, and photographs from a photographer whose work is wonderful,” she says. “We also have pen and ink drawings, metal sculptures, wood carvings, artist-made jewelry, and different styles of pottery.”
The gallery has original works from over 100 award-winning artists, 99% of whom are from Topeka. They regularly change out their art, so there are always new things to see.
Prices range from as little as $30.00 for a pair of earrings to many thousands of dollars for a painting, so there’s something for every budget. The gallery even offers layaway!
“One young man came in and asked if we do layaway, and yes, we do for a year,” says Janet. “I remember when I was young and an artist was nice enough to let me buy his painting and pay it off for $10 a month. I still have it.”
Besides the gallery, there are other places to see the art that Southwind represents. “We have 70 paintings in Arts Connect,” she says. “We have another gallery in the new building of the Brewster senior living community.”
There is also an online gallery on its website - www.southwindfineart.com. Janet says she has buyers from all over the country.
February is watercolor month, says Janet, and it’s when the gallery holds its annual Jane Stephens Memorial Watercolor Competition. It’s named after her mother who passed away in 2019 and whose birthday was in February. Hundreds of people take part.
“It’s $20.00 and people can send in up to four watercolor pictures,” she says. There are also prizes, such as $500.00 for first place.
Because of the pandemic, in-house events had to be scaled back. “We would do openings on First Fridays and have 70 - 80 people in the gallery at all times,” says Janet. “But with COVID we had to change that. Now people usually call and let me know when they’re coming to make sure we don’t have too many people in here at one time. Our limit is 10, including staff.” Masks are required, and all precautions are taken to keep everyone safe.
In this year, Janet looks forward to seeing her regular customers along with some new ones. She enjoys assisting people in choosing different types of art, and of course, convincing them that what they pick doesn’t have to actually match their sofas.