Jenny’s vibrant, uplifting paintings are a popular and recognisable sight around Bristol and the South West.
She started painting in 2010, after a 10 year career as a Biology teacher, and since then her vibrant work has featured in hundreds, (if not thousands) of homes around the world, as well as prestigious galleries. Jenny paints all day everyday and admits to being slightly addicted… “if I don’t create anything for a few days I start to get withdrawal symptoms…”.
Jenny largely works in acrylic and is completely self-taught. “I never had the opportunity to do art at school, so really enjoy experimenting with different techniques, including paint, mixed media and resin. I think that’s why many of my styles are so different. I love painting landscapes, but have also tried still-life and the odd portrait (Bukayo Saka has one of my portraits, as well as the Earl and Countess of Wessex). I was really thrilled to present Sir David Attenborough with a picture of Bristol when he was given Freedom of the City back in 2013.
“I get asked what inspires my work, and I think a lot of my pictures come from warm memories of a particular view, whether they are from a holiday, or a walk. I currently live in a terrace in Bristol, with a tiny garden and just views of terraced houses out of my window. I deeply miss the countryside in which I grew up, and so my rural paintings are probably due to a desire to surround myself with trees and fields. I grew up surrounded by nature, studied Biology at university, and then taught Biology for 10 years in Bristol, so my connection with the living world can probably be seen in my work. I also do lots of commissions for clients and I have sometimes been asked to interpret poems. One of my favourite and most challenging commissions was to interpret a war poem by Sir Andrew Motion, for the front cover of my old university Alumni magazine, ‘Oxford Today’. This painting was later used as a book cover for a commemorative edition of Lord Moran’s ‘Anatomy of Courage’. If I’m not working on commissions, I paint whatever is in my mind, depending on my mood. I just absolutely love creating pictures!!”
Jenny has a busy year ahead with lots of events on the horizon. For the latest paintings and news, please check out her facebook page https://www.facebook.com/jennyurquhartart/ and instagram page https://www.instagram.com/jennyurquhart/
