Inspiration

It's such a pleasure to be writing Q+A profiles of fellow artists for the Wellesley Women Artisans website. WWA Website Link Everytime I do an interview/ photo shoot, I am inspired and excited to get to my studio. We get a personal studio visit with accompanying insights into the art, the artist, and their process – it's very personal.

Jenny with her boys

Last week Lisa and I visited Jenny Schneider at her home studio. She talked with us about her work, demonstrated her painting technique, and collaborated with her adorable boys on a large canvas. While her illustration work is delicate and restrained, her paintings are the antedote – expressive, intuitive, and free. Her process is constructive, layering patterns, images, and textures one on top of another, Jenny add and subtracts until she arrives at the finished composition. She attributes her technique to two mentors – Flora Bowley and Misty Mawn – two women with whom she has done painting workshops. She paints and then sprays water from a spray bottle over the wet paint, allowing the paint to drip and thin. Jenny rarely uses paint brushes, preferring to layer paint on with other tools, especially old credit cards – as surprising as it sounds it's very effective.

Left is more Illustrative and Right more Gestural

All weekend, I was inspired to pull out some old canvases and get to work replicating the freedom with which she paints. I am blessed to have had this inspiration! Keep an eye out for my Q+A of Jenny…