Courtney Cutright | The Roanoke Times

"Tranquil Spring Meadow" by Jane Stogner

Reflections on the sunrise are captured on the water of Smith Mountain Lake. Soft hues of yellow, blue and orange light the sky above the familiar mountains. Islands of evergreens and one tiny sailboat float on the horizon.

The oil painting, which captures practically any day on the lake, is entitled "Breathing Room."

Guests of The Little Gallery on Smith Mountain Lake voted to give Jane Stogner's painting the people's choice award. Stogner's painting was chosen from about 30 lake landscapes.

On Sunday, a reception for Stogner will be held in the gallery at Bridgewater Plaza and the print will be unveiled and available for sale. The gallery has also ordered 600 prints of the painting.

"The color and boldness of her skies" are what Kay King, museum co-owner, said make Stogner's paintings stand out from the others.

"Her color palette is quite extensive," King said.

Stogner, a Franklin County resident and former art professor at Ferrum College, primarily paints oil landscapes.

"In the last 10 years, I have settled in with the idea that there is so much to see in my own back yard," Stogner said.

Although she travels abroad frequently, her paintings focus on the mountains, streams and lakes of Southwest Virginia.

"I want to paint what I know and love," she said. "What I know and love is this county of Virginia."

Stogner has notebooks filled with ideas and stacks of photos she uses to make quick drawings or sketches. Often when driving from her home to the lake, Floyd County or Roanoke, she will pull the car over to snap a picture. Her philosophy is that life is too short not to make the most of it.

"If you see something you want to enjoy, stop and do it," she said.

She uses the photos -- sometimes as many as five or six different ones -- to set the scene for a painting. After Stogner has a plan in mind, she starts with underpainting, a technique that covers the canvas with a coat of paint to build a foundation for the rest of the piece.

"The warm or rusty red works best for me," she said.

Stogner works out of her Callaway home, which includes a studio and a recently completed gallery. Her outlook on painting and her career is summarized on one of her coffee mugs: "Those who can, do. Those who can do more, teach."

"By teaching I felt really obligated to be an artist," she said. "I like to be known as an artist but I definitely wanted to be known as a teacher of art and a promoter of the arts."

Stogner retired from teaching three years ago, after she was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. After undergoing intensive chemotherapy, she is cancer-free and more than halfway through the remission stage.

Stogner said if she had not gotten sick she would probably still be teaching.

"Being around young people kept me young," she said.

Now Stogner can devote her time to painting.

"I'm enjoying my retirement," she said.

Stogner and her husband, Joe Stogner, the former director of environmental science at Ferrum, completed a gallery over the detached garage at their home last year, fulfilling her dream to have a place to store and display her work.

Stogner's print can be purchased at The Little Gallery for $75. Her exhibit will be on display there through March 26. The reception will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Another exhibit of Stogner's work as well as some pieces from her personal collection are on display at the Franklin County Public Library in Rocky Mount until April 15.