Artist, Author, Entreprenuer - Dennis Janovich 1940
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Dennis
Janovich, a self taught artist, was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. The son of Joe Janovich, American
immigrant from Serbia, Yugoslavia, and Ida Mae Hamilton, (English, French/Indian) who was born on
a house boat on the Ohio River built by her father, Charles Edward Hamilton.
Dennis has always had a talent for drawing and started doing portraits as a teenager. In the summer of
1957, Dennis left home and traveled extensively through the south and west coast. Experiencing an “off the
beaten path” lifestyle and working as he traveled, he spent most of this time in Southern California. Life on the road
was a real-life learning experience and other artists/beatniks, namely, Chicago Benny and woodcarver, Donald "Duck"
Dunn, out of New Orleans, inspired and taught him much about drawing and carving. (See below - 'Pawn' by Donald Dunn)
He got his high school diploma at William S. Hart High School, Newhall California. In 1964 he married
his childhood sweetheart, Marcella Soutiea of St. Louis, who he fell in love with in the eighth grade.
Dennis, Marcella and their daughter Paulette, returned to St. Louis in 1964 and he
worked as an apprentice pattern maker until 1965 when he went to work for Fusco and Hastings Architectural
Sculpture Design where, under the
tutelage of Al Fusco and Sally Hastings, he learned to sculpt in clay and make molds.
Al and Sally bought their business from the widow of a master craftsman who did decorative architectural
plaster castings. (statues, mouldings, collumns, niches etc) Dennis was hired to work on a woodcarving project. The National
Stockyard Restaurant in St. Louis was opening another restaurant and hired Fusco and Hastings to carve a copy
of a hand carved sign that was made in Spain years earlier.
With the birth of their second daughter, Pamela, the need to make enough money to support his growing family
took prescedence over his art carreer. In 1968, Janovich shifted from fine arts to commercial arts and sales becoming a salesman
for a national outdoor electric sign company. In 1969 he was promoted to management and moved his family to Seattle Washington.
Over the next 20 years, Dennis worked as a sales
manager for several direct sales organizations marketing promotional, institutional and directory advertising including outdoor electric signs, billboard, newspaper,
directory and aerial advertising.
Throughout the years Dennis has always had an ongoing art project
in the works. Presently he's working on a table, in honor of the Master, Donatello (1386 - 1466). (See Porfolio)
In 1987 he was commissioned to do a Laughing Jesus portrait
for a Pastor in Des Moines Washington. The Pastor provided a picture from a "Playboy magazine" and requested a large
drawing in the the same color and style. Later that year Janovich did another one for his brother Robert & Wilma
Helderle. After Wilma passed away, Robert encouraged Dennis to have prints made. As he said,"to make more people think about
Jesus and God's love." And since several friends and neighbors were very interested in having one, he had the Giclée
prints made.
In 1980 he started marketing his own line of specialty signs
and art service as D'JANCO.
To accompany a Washington state check law
sign he created, he wrote the RCW Merchant System Check Management Handbook which was well received by area businesses.
He's authored two business manuals on managing bad checks. The Complete Check Management Companion for Small Businesses
(out of print) and Bad Check NSF Handbook, How to Prevent Check Fraud & Collect Non-sufficient Checks In-House.
