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Jenny draws much of the inspiration for her work from the area where she grew up. Raised on a farm in northeast Kansas, she has always been fascinated with animals and spent much of her childhood surrounding herself with wildlife and farm animals. She developed a strong connection to the land and it’s creatures. As a child, she also loved to draw and paint, and credits her parents for encouraging that love. She was never without a sketch pad and pencils.
After high school, she attended college and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science, which has furthered her understanding of animal behavior and anatomy. She did not take any art classes while in college and is truly a self-taught artist.
Now married, and with three children, she continues to live on a dairy and beef farm that she and her husband own and operate, surrounded by their cattle, horses, dogs, and several barn cats. She works in a small studio in her home which sits on several hundred acres of fields and woodlands. Her paintings reflect what she knows best: the animals and nature she enjoys every day.
Jenny has shown her work at many shows and exhibitions including the Phippen Western Art Show and Sale in Prescott, AZ; the Paint America Exhibition; the Greeley Stampede Western Art Show and Sale in Greeley, CO; and the Southeastern Wildlife Exposition in Charleston, SC. She is an invited artist in the Cowgirl Up! Art From the Other Half of the West Art Show and Sale at the Desert Caballeros Western Art Museum in Wickenburg, Arizona; the Night of Artists Art Sale and Gala at the Briscoe Western Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas; and the Heart of the West Exhibition and Sale at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas.
She has garnered many awards along the way. Jenny won “Best of Show” in the 2010 Heart of the West Exhibition and Sale in Fort Worth, Texas. She was also bestowed the great honor of winning not only the “Artist’s Choice” award but also the “People’s Choice” award at the 2009 Cowgirl Up! Art from the Other Half of the West Art Show and Sale. Other awards include “Artist’s Choice” at the Greeley Stampede Western Art Show and Sale, 3rd Place in pastels at the Phippen Western Art Show and Sale (2008 and 2010), the “People’s Choice” award at the Mulvane Mountain/Plains Art Show, “Best of Show” at the Operation Wildlife Art Show and Sale, and several honorable mentions in the Pastel Journal’s Pastel 100 Competition. Jenny also won the 2008 Wyoming Conservation Stamp Competition. Her winning painting of a black-footed ferret appeared on the 2008 Wyoming Conservation Stamp and the painting itself is on permanent display in Cheyenne at the Wyoming Fish and Game Department headquarters.
With meticulous attention to detail, she strives to capture a “softness and realness” in her beloved subjects. “My joy in painting is the details. I love the thought of someone feeling as though they could reach out and actually feel the fur on a bison, think they could actually hear the soft nicker of a horse, or swear that the ‘owl just blinked it’s eyes!’.”
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