Janet “Wendy” Warner (1926 - 2025) was an American artist and naturalist who devoted her artwork to representing the light, movement, and colors of the natural world. She worked primarily in impressionistic transparent watercolor, and actively created artwork her entire adult life until retiring her studio in 2022.

"The watercolor medium can catch fleeting changes of light and the subtleties of shadows and mass. As a result, all of my sketches and paintings done on location are watercolors. My works in oils and acrylics are studio pieces and usually a composite of many watercolors and sketches. Some are purely imaginative or done from memory."

Born in Buffalo, NY, Wendy studied sculpture with Concetta Scaravaglione at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY, and continued her studies with Jean Henrich in Buffalo.

Wendy continued to learn and refine the art of watercolor from Robert N. Blair, a prominent artist from Holland, NY. She painted and traveled with Robert and his wife, Jeanette. She was active in the Buffalo art and social scene, a member of the Buffalo Society of Artists, and a devoted supporter of the Sierra Club.

Her early work garnered significant recognition. In 1960, she received the James Cary Evans Memorial award at the Albright-Knox Gallery Western New York Show, and the Gold Medal at the Buffalo Society of Artists Annual Exhibition, juried by renowned artist Edwin Dickinson. In 1969, she received the Dibble Award from the Buffalo Society of Artists.

"For subject matter I prefer out-of-the-way places accessible on foot or, in the west, by horseback where there is quiet, and where one can absorb the scene until the inner eye truly sees and the hand and brush can find the proper rhythm."

Wendy lived for most of her adult life in western New York and traveled regularly to Vermont, and her art reflects the many moods and seasons of those hills, streams, and mountains. She also loved the American west, traveling to ranches in Arizona and Montana with her husband, Murray.

Throughout her career, Wendy held one-woman exhibitions at venues including the Garret Club of Buffalo (1963, 2000), the Roycroft Gallery in East Aurora (1978), the Kenan Center in Lockport (1986), and the Clary-Miner Gallery in Buffalo (1990), among others.

Her work was featured in numerous national juried exhibitions including the Washington Watercolor Club at the Smithsonian Institution, the Chautauqua Art Association National Exhibitions (multiple years from 1958-1981), the Butler Institute of American Art Mid-year Shows (1969, 1972), the Cooperstown National Exhibitions (1972, 1981, 1982), and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Biennial (1965). She was regularly featured at the Albright-Knox Gallery Western New York Exhibitions from 1957 through 1986.

Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center at SUNY Buffalo, as well as in many private and corporate collections including M&T Bank, the Charles Rand Penney Collection, Moog Inc, The Park School of Buffalo, The Nichols School, The Buffalo Seminary, and private collectors throughout the United States, Germany, and Canada.

Wendy passed away in early 2025, leaving a legacy of art and color.

To learn more or request an exhibition, please contact [email protected].