Jan Blacka has always liked to make things.

She started making dolls out of the peel-off papers from the wide band-aids as soon as she was old enough to be allowed to have magic markers and tape. A long, long way from band-aids, markers and tape, but still in love with media and tools and process, Jan makes her own stuff, but has added a computer with a pen tablet to her toolset.

Using a pen tablet enables her to draw and paint on the screen as fluidly as on paper or canvas. Her working methods are closely related to collage and print-making in the use of repeated elements and layering. She sometimes includes her photos and scans of objects in her images. The finished work combines the precision of computer-aided design with a hand-made sensibility and abstract style.

She earned her BA at Williams College and her MFA at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Jan worked as a studio assistant for a master printmaker and for an American Craft Council fiber artist. She has taught art in many venues, including summer camp, various art centers, and the Maryland College of Art and Design.

Her work can be seen in person in Northern Virginia at the Gateway Gallery in Round Hill. Notecards are available at the Consignment Boutique in Leesburg. For the summer beach-trip season of 2010, her work can be seen at Zofia's Art Gallery on Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.