About
Jenni was brought up in Cornwall and made her way to Bath to study Fine Art BA Hons in 2005. From there she went on to train as a Secondary School Art Teacher in 2008 teaching in a variety of settings in and around Bath and Bristol.
For the last 5 years Jenni has balanced work during the day and being an artist in the evenings and weekends taking part in a series of small exhibitions as and when she can. Life continues to be busy with 2 small girls under the age of 3 and her Black Labrador Larry.
Jenni's main focus for her artwork is line and pattern. Which shows itself in a variety of ways. Traditionally Jenni has focused on building a collection of locations based on her childhood, home and travels. Printmaking features in a big way. Designs start as drawings and develop as layers and patterns are added. These are then transferred onto lino where Jenni can spend weeks to cut out the most intricate of designs. She was heavily influenced by Cornish naive artists growing up and she finds comfort in these flowing lines and a decisive nature as the image/lino develops.
More recently Jenni has explored pattern and line in a wider sense sometimes incorporating her love of Bristol and sometimes playing with her love of traditions and maps through a sense of place and home.
When at university Jenni’s work focused on large scale pencil drawings. These were drawn from photos taken on journeys, snap shots of time, fractions of moments. The idea of fate and journey has always been an underlying theme in Jenni’s work. Paths, made by little decisions and chance meetings has always been a fascination.
An Interview with a Student
I was recently asked if I could be used an artist for a students work, surely that is a sign things are going well in your career... So here it is
What made you want to begin doing art?
I have always loved art and being creative. I can remember sitting in lessons from the first few weeks of school and enjoying anything creative. It was always on the cards to be involved in the creative arts in some capacity and a degree in art was something I wanted to do as soon as I knew it was how I would progress into making this a profession.
Do you have a favourite piece you have made? (If yes, which one?)
I am enjoying adding more and more detail and pattern into my work. For a long time, I restricted my outcomes to only using one type of lino tool. This ensured the style I was producing had a particular feel about it, naive art has always been favoured having been brought up in Cornwall and it being very popular amongst the 60s artist down there. So the simple lines were purposeful. It allowed for me to 'cut' things out and simplify the images I was trying to create.This all started when I wanted to create a special gift for my husband for a landmark birthday and I wanted to make a Cornwall piece in the style of the old train/travel posters promoting holidays in the UK. Have a look at these and you will see the connection.So favourite pieces?... Cornwall as it was my first, the Bristol Map as it was a turning point for me in developing my style.
What is your favourite thing to base your art on? (Landmarks, cities, etc)
I love journeys, locations, memories for places, and fate. I think the paths you cross with people are important whether you know that that path has been crossed or not. Those are my thoughts behind creating different locations and then referring to some of my more abstract pieces way back. More recently I have focused more creating lino and pattern and something that is fun to look at. We were lucky growing up and had lots of different paintings on the wall growing up. In these paintings there was always something different to look at and enjoy so I try to do that with my pictures more and more.
Why do you focus mainly on lino prints?
I have worked in many mediums over the years and spent much time drawing very large pencil drawings, the type that took 4 pencils... When it came to the idea of selling and letting go of something you spent so much time on I couldn't. I thought I need to get round this as I just didn't want to let go with a part of me. With printmaking I feel you still retain a part of you and the work produced yet you can make and sell copies out. With the original prints I love that each one looks different as I hand print all copies.
Do you use any other media? (And which is your favourite?)
I am introducing some paper cutting action into the prints which I am pretty excited about. Other than that I draw a lot but haven't painted for some time.