Collegiate Times

Deciding to become an artist at age 2, Jane Vance continues to create and collect from past travels.

Correction: This story has been modified from its original version. — This article has been modified from its original version to more accurately reflect Jane Vance's status as an instructor here at Tech. The Collegiate Times regrets this error.

Sauntering along a gravel pathway from her modest home, illuminated by warm lights and livened with colorful strings of prayer flags, Jane Lillian Vance peered down her pitch-black driveway, scattered with cats, on a Wednesday night. The tiny woman, with long, gray brown hair, was adorned with beaded necklaces, which surprisingly didn’t cause her to tip over. She lightly spun Tibetan prayer wheels that line her abode, giving her a small reminder of her trips to Nepal.

“Each wheel has thousands of prayers written on a scroll inside,” she said, as she twirled them walking back to her house, “and when you spin them, the prayers are released into the air.”

Stepping into her home, nestled away in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Blacksburg, it is apparent that Vance is an artist. Giant canvases of Himalayan-inspired paintings cover an entire wall, one of which reaches the ceiling and is almost as wide. The pieces are not hanging, but instead leaning against one another, layer upon layer of vibrant colors and precise details that a three-haired brush enables her to include.

Each painting seems as if it is from another place or perhaps another time.

Vance said she entered the world as an artist. Working diligently as a two-year-old on her art, she was serious about pursuing it by the time she was in first grade. She hasn’t stopped painting since.

“It’s hard to know why a person comes in predisposed,” Vance said.

The artist, whose face makes those in her presence instantly feel at ease, sat down in her eclectic home, which smelled pleasantly like a combination of tea and Vicks VapoRub, to reminisce about her life. She sipped on freshly brewed tea, fingers laden with several large, unusual looking rings grasping the mug while she delved into her many ventures.

Vance, who is a Virginia Tech instructor, has spent 30 years traveling back and forth from the mountains of southwest Virginia to those of South Asia. With these excursions under her belt, she has sought to connect the worlds of Blacksburg and Nepal.

Vance has captured her experiences with both places in a documentary titled “A Gift for the Village.”

The documentary is the product of 10 years worth of footage of Vance and her friends in Nepal and other parts of the Himalayan mountain range. But what makes the film special is that it documents the journey of a painting Vance created for a Tibetan healer, Buddhist and lama named Amchi Tsampa Ngawang.

The painting represents a cultural bridge between Nepal and Blacksburg, a monumental occurrence. The painting and the documentary are even endorsed by the Dalai Lama himself.

Looking deeper inside Vance’s home, it is obvious she enjoys maintaining a loving environment, filled with ornaments she has collected from her travels.

The living room is occupied by mementos: sculptures of Buddha, a plethora of beads, embroidered pillows, images of tigers, woven tapestries and ceramics. A large piece of driftwood and a few unique shells adorn her coffee table.

There are art supplies strewn about. Flags, children’s artwork and photographs of Vance’s family decorate the walls, and in every available space left, there is some sort of Himalayan ornament. The variety of objects could fill a book.

Even in her actual studio, where a painting in progress sat in the center of the room, there were numerous shelves of souvenirs and trinkets.

Her two children, who are both in college, still have rooms at home, which she happily showed off. According to Vance, they still come home whenever they get the chance.

“I have the best parent-children relationship in the universe,” she said, gleefully.

Vance’s favorite part of the house, however, is in her room. She turns on a light to see it more clearly. A collection of necklaces hangs on her wall. But, there are no diamonds and gold here. Instead, there are beautiful beads of glass and natural stones, which are large and heavy. One necklace has a single turquoise “bead” the size of a tennis ball.

“This is worn as a headdress by the Nepalese women,” Vance noted.

Looking at all the décor of the house, Vance reflected.

“Do I need all these things?” she asked herself. “Probably not. But I have them here to remind me of everything I’ve seen.”

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A version of this article appeared in the Oct 7 issue of the Collegiate Times.