Jessica is a lifetime resident of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western North Carolina. Her passion for art and storytelling spans more than two decades and includes theatre and performing arts, film and digital photography, drawing, and painting.
Her focus today is heaviest in traditional acrylic painting on canvas and digital illustration. While mostly self-taught, she credits her strong art foundation to the art educators throughout her elementary, middle and high school years. Jessica’s influences are from two wholly opposite art styles, which might explain that! (Basilius Besler and Rembrandt.)
Though she exclusively uses acrylics, Jessica credits her paintings’ “oil-like look” to her unique painting style. She starts nearly all of her paintings with a black base and thins her paints with water to give them translucence. She then paints in many layers, building tones from dark to light to give her paintings texture and depth, all the while blending deep hues with gentle light to produce her distinct, earthy aesthetic.
Jessica desires for her artwork to make an emotional connection with the viewer – bringing a feeling of serenity by the way of lush, natural environments. Christian themes can be found in much of her work, along with nods to her home state of North Carolina.
Awards & Publications
- Jessica was honored to design the graphics for N.O.R.D.’s 2024 Patient Conference in Los Angeles, CA, themed “Lights, Camera, Rare Action!” The digitally drawn illustration appeared on the “swag bags” at the event.
- Jessica’s painting “Come Together” was awarded the People’s Choice award at the 2024 Northwest Artist’s Exhibition.
