Hovde, Jane

Born and raised in Washington State, artist Jane Hamilton (1921- ) met Annis Jorgen (A.J.) Hovde (1917-1984) while studying English and Art at Western Washington College of Education in Bellingham.

The couple married in 1942, prior to A.J.'s three years of military service overseas. Jane received her teaching certificate in the same year, before completing a B.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Washington in Seattle. Following World War II, A.J. completed his B.A. and later an M.A. in English at the University of Washington, while Jane attended classes in the art department and studied with Northwest painter Mark Tobey. In 1948 the Hovdes began teaching at Western Washington State College in Bellingham. Jane's recognition as a significant Northwest artist began with the 1953 first prize at the Washington Territorial Centennial Show for "Nets and Driftwood." Her early artistic style reflected a semi-abstract treatment of landscapes and scenes in the Pacific Northwest and Italy. Her works were shown at local venues including the Whatcom Museum of History & Art, nationally with traveling exhibits of the Seattle Art Museum and the Smithsonian Institution, and she exhibited in Rome while living in Italy (1956-1957). Publishing as early as 1947, A.J.'s acceptance in literary journals and magazines grew to well over a hundred publications. In 1968 he was among faculty members who formed Fairhaven College, an experimental division of Western Washington State College. A.J. retired from the university in 1981, and continued to write journals of personal and family experiences until his death in 1984.

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