Hello and welcome!
I’m Jenny and I am an abstract mixed media artist working out of a studio in my home in Northern Virginia.
I’ve been fortunate to have traveled quite a bit over the years, and my paintings reflect the colors of the landscapes I have connected with during that time. Using acrylic paints and other media such as colored pencils, soft pastels, artists crayons, watercolors, inks, and oil pastels, I layer color after color onto a surface—most often paper or unstretched canvas—to create form and interest through texture, depth and vibrancy.
“Filling a space in a beautiful way—that is what art means to me.”
— Georgia O’Keeffe
I find creating art incredibly soothing and joyful, and am always filled with anticipation when I begin working in my studio. Applying colors, trying to anticipate how one will look layered upon another, or which will sing beside another, is endlessly fascinating to my oftentimes overly analytical brain. At the end of the day, I might not have a completed work but I have never not learned something.
My hope is that my paintings stimulate your interest too, and bring pops of peace and joy into your life, offering a place for your mind to wander off to in the busyness of the day.
More about me…
I was born in Kentucky and grew up on the outskirts of Louisville, among auto and appliance factories and fields of corn and tobacco. I liked nature (except snakes), but I don’t think it was until my father died when I was 15 that I really found comfort in it. It was March and after school, I would take our dogs on long walks in a park near where we lived. It was cool and rainy but also beautiful and alive, and being out in it made me feel more grounded and less numb.
Life carried on and I continued to seek out opportunities to experience the outdoors wherever I lived or traveled. England was an especial favorite as the countryside was so beautiful and, unlike Kentucky, the snake population was almost non-existent (I know—I am working on it!).
I didn’t sketch or paint at the time but instead took many, many photos. In fact, prior to 2023, my last time taking an art class was when I was around twelve. I can’t remember the teacher’s name but I do remember how encouraging she was. One assignment was to sew together fabric scraps to create a piece of art. I created a landscape with a frog sitting on a lily pad, and I remember clearly what she said about it: “Jenny, I have to give you a B because you didn’t follow the directions (which were to not have a pattern touching another pattern) but that’s the only reason why. This is really good!”
Fast forward many, many years, to 2023, and I decided I needed to again make time for art. I took classes locally and kept plugging away, even though what I was producing was not great (or even good, if I’m being honest). After lots of ho-hum, things started improving and experimentation led to me finding ways to more successfully put what was in my head onto the paper.
The year 2025 saw the federal agency at which I worked, the US Agency for International Development or USAID, dissolved. It was a difficult time but I was extremely fortunate to be eligible for an offer of early retirement. I accepted and made the decision to pivot to my art full time. It’s been scary and exciting and emotional and everything you can imagine it could be, but it was definitely the right decision. I can’t wait to see how my art practice develops in the coming years, and to share my creations with more and more people.
To follow along on my journey, please sign up for my monthly email below. Thank you!
Jenny