Every morning, Jan Allmon gets out of bed and embarks upon an hour-long walk. The temperature doesn’t matter, nor does the location as long as it’s “nature-y.”

When Allmon’s walk ends, she heads to her studio/gallery, 650 N. High St. in Worthington, and paints. And paints. And paints.

Allmon – who was raised in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country – has always followed her instincts, and it has led to a long and fruitful art career. When the status quo made her think she couldn’t make a living as a painter, she did it anyway. When her friends told her the economy was too dire to open a gallery, she did it anyway. She now has more confidence in her work, and is having a great time doing it.

Allmon always had an affinity for art, taking community classes when she was young and begging her friends to do the same. But even after receiving awards for her pieces in high school, she only considered art to be a hobby. When she enrolled at Bowling Green State University, she chose to enter the nursing program.

“I wasn’t ever very comfortable taking all of the math and science classes for nursing, but at the time, I didn’t consider art as a possible career. Still, I kept taking some art classes,” Allmon says. “I eventually realized there were so many opportunities that I didn’t have in high school and there was something about art in general – it just wouldn’t leave my head. I switched majors my sophomore year.”

Allmon graduated with a bachelor’s degree in fine arts. She met her husband, Jim, in college and the couple moved to Columbus afterwards, where Allmon worked in graphic design. Jim’s banking job then took them to Dayton, then Vermont. They spent 22 years in Woodstock, Vt., where Allmon opened Gallery on the Green.

“When we moved to Vermont, I started selling my prints at some of the general stores and doing commissioned work, and they were selling pretty well. I decided to take a chance – to follow my instincts and open a gallery,” Allmon says. “We started with two rooms and a couple of artists. By the time we left, the space had been expanded and had about 25 artists.”

She sold the gallery to one of the artists when the couple moved to Williamsburg, Va. to be closer to their three daughters (Jennifer, Jaclyn and Jill, all located in Washington, D.C.) . In their new city, Allmon opened another gallery in Merchant’s Square, but it did not receive the same response as her Vermont business.

“People were responsive to prints, but not to the originals. The clientele in Williamsburg was just different – they preferred historic prints,” Allmon says.

So, they sold the gallery to one of the represented artists and moved back to Columbus, where many family and friends were located. In August 2008, the Jan Allmon Fine Art Studio opened in the heart of Worthington. The gallery features about 10 artists (including Jennifer Allmon) who work with everything from jewelry and glass to pottery and fabric.

All of the oil paintings hanging in the gallery, however, are Allmon’s. Her style is mostly contemporary realism, with some abstracts. She uses colors to enhance mood effects, and her subject-matter typically focuses on seascapes, garden scenes or landscapes – themes often inspired by her daily walks and her history in New England.

“I paint what I feel emotionally connected to and that can depend on the mood at that time. I’m not a formula painter. I enjoy surprises and experimenting and growing,” Allmon says.

Surprises come easily as she prefers to paint straight from her imagination as opposed to painting from photographs. Much of Allmon’s work revisits scenes from her days living in Vermont – a place she still considers home.

“I do have a lot of that New England influence in my work – water, coastal scenes, warm and soothing scenery and colors,” she says. “I start my paintings with an idea based on my own personal experiences and draw from recollections, and that time of my life keeps me inspired.”

Although she’s no longer “home,” Allmon is quite comfortable in Columbus. She admits the city’s prolific art scene surprised her, and she is having more fun than ever.

“I’m in a groove now – in that mindset where the more I paint, the more I want to paint. Having this space helps because it’s up to me to keep paintings on the wall,” Allmon says. “I am more confident in my work at this point in my life. I’m taking more chances now and painting for myself instead of for the masses and it’s been so much fun. I have followed my instincts through this entire career and it’s nice to know it has turned out OK, because it’s what I love to do.”

Allmon still has work represented at Gallery on the Green in Vermont. She also does commissioned work and teaches classes in the studio, which is open six days a week. For more information, call 614-505-6590, email or visit www.janallmon.com.

Alicia Kelso is editor of CityScene.