Artist

Biography

Edgy Impressionism best describes Jody’s colorful, bold landscapes. She is both a plein air and a studio painter who uses conventional brushes as well as scrapers, knives and other items to achieve her unique style. Her subject matter is inspired by a variety of remote back country locations with trees being the main attraction. Most paintings start with a plein air painting that is polished and finished in the studio. Larger works are created in the studio using plein air paintings, field studies and photographs as reference.

Upon arriving at a location, Jody’s first question is, “what is the mood that attracted me to this spot on this day”. The mood dictates the values and colors of the painting. Next she uses a color wheel (even on location) to select specific harmonious colors for the mood, time of day, and season. After pre-mixing all the correct values and colors, a quick line drawing is done to establish the composition. Then it is time to slip into a totally unstructured, creative mind set and let the painting evolve as it will.

Being an experimental artist, the most important part of Jody’s painting process is recognizing and being sensitive to each stroke as it is applied to the canvas. Interesting unplanned developments are preserved and enhanced. That means allowing the original composition morph into something new, different, unplanned and exciting.

Jody’s training started as a child with her parents, who were both highly accomplished Impressionists. Her formal training at Cal Arts was both liberating and enlightening. She found a new freedom of expression in Abstraction, and proceeded to incorporate the sound structure and color theory principles her father taught her. Over the years representational images began creeping into her abstract work, until the distinct style you see today evolved.