About

About Jera

I have a great love of the theatre, in which I trained throughout college and graduate school.  In my undergraduate years, I studied scenic design, as well as other technical aspects of theatrical production.  I spent many hours painting sets, and I believe that those skills are reflected in the techniques I use in my paintings and illustrations.

The first painting I ever did was for a production of The Dumb Waiter by Harold Pinter.  I had participated in the technical crew, and painted a representation of the tree from Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, not only for thematic reasons, but also to provide the typical hotel wall decorations.  That was probably the first time I considered painting an activity that I might enjoy.

I think that start is something that is apparent in the work that I do.  I enjoy painting whatever catches my attention, but if I can use inspiration to capture thematic elements or to make a comparison, that is what makes it interesting for me.  I enjoy the abstract more than the realistic, as the abstract can be interpreted a lot in the same way that plays are interpreted.  The viewer's perspective informs the original in many ways.

Sketching is something that I've always done.  I enjoy the starkness of impact of the lines.  I am learning to use watercolor, and dabble in mixed media.  I have lots of different ideas that I would like to try, so I expect a lot of interesting experiences, if nothing else.

I currently paint when I can, work when I need to, and try to enjoy life in general.  I've got grown and growing kids, cats, ferrets, and struggle to make plants grow.

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