Art That Does More Than Decorate

Photos by: Emma Highfill | Rose Wheat Photography & Grace Place

Topeka native, Janet Paduh, has fixed engines, balanced books and flown small planes. But it is her passion for art that has made the biggest imprint on her life and the lives of those around her.

Janet just finished her first year as owner of SouthWind Art Gallery and Framewoods of Topeka. She purchased it in early 2019 from Gary Blitsch, who owned the business for 27 years before retiring.

SouthWind is the third gallery Janet has owned. While she grew up in Topeka (She recalls running through the farmland that is now Fairlawn Plaza as a 9-year-old.), she’s spent large portions of her life in San Antonio and Oklahoma City. She owned galleries in both cities.

“I think all towns and cities need lots of them,” Janet said. “It’s a culture. It’s a bonding thing.”

The daughter of accomplished local painter Jane Stephens, art was in Janet’s upbringing. Her Topeka West art teacher, Royce Fleming, was one of Janet’s earliest encouragers. She finished her high school coursework two years early, but since she was required to graduate with her class, Janet had plenty of time to take more art classes.

“Whatever I wanted to learn—weaving, whatever—it just appeared. If anyone could have a mentor, he was it,” she said.

While art had its hooks in her, Janet also had an aptitude for numbers. She became an accountant for Texaco, but soon grew bored and decided to learn to be a mechanic. At age 23, she was fixing engines, a trait that impressed her future husband.

Ron Paduh, a San Antonio-based Air Force pilot, was stationed in Topeka in 1973, where he taught Forbes Field pilots. One night, while out for drinks, he caught Janet’s eye.

“He was so cute with that blonde hair,” she recalled. “And he had a flight suit.”

Eventually, they married and moved to San Antonio.

In Texas, Janet began painting again. She entered her work in Topeka art shows, giving her an excuse to visit. Though she was living in Texas, she was granted membership to the Topeka Art Guild. Through the Guild, she took workshops that allowed her to master a new type of medium: acrylics.

“One thing about acrylics is after you learn to handle it, if you don’t like that tree you just painted, give it about three minutes and you can put a swimming pool in its place,” Janet said.

FIRST BRUSH AS A GALLERY OWNER

Back in San Antonio, Janet bought a gallery on the river walk, an area that attracted tourists from all over the world. There she continued to paint, focusing heavily on animals.

While in San Antonio, Janet started a program for kids who needed a place to go after school. With the help of another artist, she organized a spring watercolor month where the students, many of them first-time painters, would submit. Each piece was framed and displayed on stage in the plaza of a San Antonio art district. The students would win awards and even get to sell their work.

“I have watercolors from 10-year-olds that would blow your mind,” Janet said.

When Ron was transferred to Oklahoma City, Janet became active in a new art community. She purchased a gallery and led several organizations, including the Oklahoma Watercolor Association and the Oklahoma Art Guild.

When Ron retired, the couple returned to San Antonio, where they lived until he passed away in 2016.

“All I could think was, ‘My best friend is gone,’” Janet said.

Wanting to be near to family, Janet moved back to Topeka in 2017.

“It’s good to be home,” she said.

Janet regularly stopped in SouthWind to visit with Gary and see what was new in the gallery. From those visits, she got to know Apollonia, a custom framer, and Abby, the gallery assistant.

USE THE RIGHT TOOL

One day in 2018, Janet drove past and saw a “For Sale” sign outside the shop. She continued on, but less than a quarter mile later, she pulled into Dairy Queen. At that moment, she remembered when her husband would tell her to “use the right tool” back when she was rebuilding engines in her Texaco days.

“It was like his voice said, ‘Now, you know you want to ask.
Just go down and ask. If it’s too much or not the
right thing, then you’ll you’ve tried.”

Janet turned around and drove back to the gallery. Less than two months later, on January 2, 2019, Janet officially became the owner. Both Abby and Apollonia stayed on through the change of hands.

One of Janet’s first changes was the business’ name. Formerly, the gallery’s legal name was Framewoods of Topeka, Inc. and SouthWind Gallery. Janet flipped it and nixed the “Inc.”

She dove right into remodeling, a process she enjoyed. While she had help, she also rolled up her sleeves and got to work.

“I like painting a wall almost as well as I do a painting,” she said.

Once painted, finding new artists to fill the walls was surprisingly easy.

“A lot of them come to you. It’s amazing,” she said.
“Word gets out. Big city. Little city. It doesn’t matter.”

One artist who approached her was Stan Herd, a Kansas-based artist who is internationally-known for his large earthworks, giant paintings he creates using natural materials like stone, crops and other plants. Several of his works are now in SouthWind.

Other artists come from old connections. Diane Lawrence, for example, was a friend of Janet’s late mother (and now Janet’s good friend) through the Topeka Art Guild.

FIRST FRIDAYS ARE NOT JUST ABOUT ART

Janet said her first year in business was smooth. Topeka’s First Friday Art Walks were a highlight, bringing in crowds each month.

“The most fun we have is the First Fridays,” she said. “The neat thing I noticed was by the third month, it was like a community meeting place with all of these people I didn’t know and others I hadn’t seen in years.”

While Janet sells something almost every First Friday, she is prouder of how the gallery has brought people together.

“People are talking about paintings or about their kids. It doesn’t really matter to me,” she said, adding, “I mean, I’d love to sell everything on the walls. But I’m way too logical for that.”

BROADENING THE CLIENTELE

One area Janet has tried to focus on is broadening her clientele, especially to younger buyers.

“A lot of my friends, my age, already have more art than they can look at,” she said.

Offering layaway has helped encourage younger buyers who may be hesitant to spend several thousand of dollars on their first piece of art.

In the years to come, Janet hopes to do more workshops and host more competitions. She hosted the first annual Jane Stephens Memorial Watercolor Competition, in honor of her mother, last July. Janet said her staff worried when they realized they only had 10 submissions with the deadline fast approaching. But Janet wasn’t stressed.

“I said, ‘You watch. I ran these shows for years. Painters are notorious for waiting until the last minute,’” she said. By the deadline, they had 94 entries.

In years to come, Janet hopes to keep improving, whether it’s trying different mediums or price points. With items starting at $22, she hopes to become a place people go to purchase gifts.

But her deepest hope is to give artists a place to share their work.

“I want to make this space nicer and brighter for the artists and get more people in here for them,” she said. “That’s what makes me happy.”