My paintings are created using intense and brightly colored soft pastels applied directly onto sanded paper.
My impressionist work
The majority of my landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes are created by applying pastels onto a colored ground. The use of a colored ground creates an additional textural and color element to the painting, which helps to unify the overall color of the piece and create a harmonious balance.
Whether a wild and untamed landscape; or a landscape nurtured and created by human intervention; or the towering beauty of a city skyline – these subjects hold for me a different fascination and entirely different challenges in composition and in the interplay of color and light.
My impressionist paintings are borne of my initial reaction to color in that observed environment; it might be an unexpected, vibrant, splash of color, or a contrast of extremes, or the interplay of warm and cool hues. Once my eye has been caught I search for the best composition to express my reaction to the scene which has captivated my attention: sometimes the composition is clearly there before me in reality and needs no other explanation whilst other times I have to adjust the scene, eliminating the unwanted or adding elements for greater impact in order to best express what initially appealed to me.
Concerned only with capturing the essence rather than the physical reality of the scene, my work is largely impressionistic in inspiration with the occasional foray into “abstract impressionism”!
My abstract work
My purely abstract paintings are created almost exclusively on a white abrasive ground. Each piece evolves intuitively through a process of sketching, pastel or watercolor under-painting, alcohol washes over soft pastel, and re-application of pastel in, often, many layers.
In some paintings watercolor highlights complete the abstract design.
My abstract paintings are borne of total freedom of expression – created by the evolving interaction between line, color and texture in each piece, as I am painting. This ensures that every piece, albeit part of a series of pieces, is entirely original in creation and design.
ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Born in London, England and raised in Windsor, Jennifer developed an interest in art in her early childhood. Previously a lawyer by profession, Jennifer emigrated to the United States in 1999 giving up her legal career to pursue her love of painting on a full-time basis.
Jennifer has an early artistic background in ink and oil painting and now paints with pastel and watercolor; she finds the vibrancy and vitality of the pastel medium lends itself particularly well to her rendering of light and color in her abstracts, cityscapes, landscapes and seascapes.
Jennifer's love of the natural beauty of the countryside, the vibrancy of the city and the tranquility of the sea is clearly reflected in her works. Much of her inspiration is drawn from her extensive travels across Europe, the United States, the Caribbean and the Far East.
Jennifer has a client base in the USA, South America and Europe, comprising both private and commercial collectors.
Jennifer is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America and her work has been published numerous times in The Pastel Journal, American Artist Magazine, The Artist’s Magazine and also published online at practicalpainting.com.
Jennifer's work is frequently shown at national juried exhibitions across the United States and in addition is exhibited at many of the annual art shows throughout New England and Florida. Her work can also be seen at galleries in Acton, MA, Newburyport, MA, Bald Head Island, NC and East Greenwich, CT, in select museums and corporate collections and by appointment at her studio in Sarasota, Florida.
