Jessica
About myself - My name is Jessica. I was born in Dunedin, grew up in Tarpon Springs and currently reside in Palm Harbor. I come from a family of practicing artists and began drawing and painting at a very young age. Art has been a daily practice for me, made more meaningful now as I have the opportunity to teach and share my love and passion of artistic expression with others.
History/ Experience My skills have been primarily self-taught although I did attend college classes in art history and drawing and enrolled in figure drawing classes at The Dunedin Fine Art Center. I also enjoy photography and dabble in digital art and illustration.
Artistic expression is my passion; it is what I believe to be my ultimate purpose. It is one constant in my life that always brought me an abundance of joy. Just another form of communication, art allows me to express experiences, feelings, concepts and beauty in a way that words cannot. This is achieved by the creation of material; a physical form of love manifested from the spiritual world into existence and reality.
It is my belief that art has just as much significance as mathematics and science in relation to understanding the world, its people and culture. I strongly support the arts in our education system. Our children are the future and exposure to the arts in all forms will create a deeper understanding for generations to come. When I finally embraced art as a full-time practice, many doors opened for me, and I continue to grow into a life more enriched with people who inspire me and opportunities that allow me to grow and appreciate life.
Styles and influences - I mostly create paintings that feature the human female figure, nature, landscapes and abstract. Preferred styles include contemporary, impressionistic, abstract and expressionism. Some artists that have influenced me include Claude Monet, Andrew Wyeth, Jeremy Mann, Malcolm Liepke, John Singer Sargent, Vincent Van Gogh and Henri Manguin. I also look for inspiration from newly-emerging artists.
According to Robert Henri, author of The Art Spirit, "The world would stagnate without him, and the world would be beautiful with him, for he is interesting to himself and he is interesting to others. He does not have to be a painter or sculptor to be an artist. He can work in any medium. He simply has to find the gain in the work itself, not outside it."
