I work in soft pastels, which are wonderful for capturing fleeting effects of light and weather. I find pastel very suitable for working on location, in order to achieve a quality of immediacy and liveliness in my work. I make and prepare my own painting surfaces and pastel chalks. I make my pastel chalks from raw pigment powder, creating colors I could not find in commercially available pastels. I am constantly scanning my surroundings for shadows passing over hills, sparkling light on water, or a particular moment of harmonious color in a sunset. I often discover subjects by chance, and will get out my pastels and complete the painting on the spot. What interests me is a sense of movement, and by implication, the passing of time. I am inspired by the challenge of capturing this fundamental aspect of nature.
As balance to the immediacy and spontaneity of working in pastel, I also translate landscapes into woodblock prints, using a Japanese method called moku hanga. Woodblock printmaking requires a careful plan and lots of time to create an image, making it completely opposite to the way I work in pastel. I find that each technique informs and influences the other. I can see a landscape as either a light-filled, atmospheric pastel, or as a more stylized and graphic woodblock print.
Jennifer received her education from the New York Academy of Art, New York and from Boston University School for the Arts.
She has exhibited at numerous art fairs in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming since 2001.
She also exhibits at Davidson Galleries in Seattle, WA, and recently participated in the Hudson River Fellowship in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
Meet the artist reception Friday, April 26 5-7pm
