jennifer paxton Jen always loved to draw. From a young age, she was encouraged by her parents with nightly father-daughter drawing sessions and
her grandfather’s portrait sketchbooks of the 1930s. Graduating with a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University, she moved to New York then to Los Angeles to pursue a career in fashion. Working in the industry as a fashion illustrator and apparel designer, Jen had the opportunity to work with companies such as Guess? Inc, Ralph Lauren, Escada and Mattel.
Many years later, Jen landed back in Richmond, returning to her creative practice when her first son was born. Observing and sketching her baby reconnected her to the love of the organic human form and gestures of art foundation. As a self-proclaimed figurative artist, Jen finds inspiration in the fluid and delicate movements of the body, trying to capture the depth of presence in each subject. Jen began working very tightly in realism but curiously moving into a looser, intuitive practice..
Her artistic journey is constantly evolving and expanding as she explores new media and subjects. It’s the making of mistakes, changing of course, finding out what’s essential and letting go of what is not. Once notably a ‘city-girl’, Jen prefers the tranquility of the countryside and mountains, finding inspiration in the nature of her surroundings. Exploring the roads less-travelled with her husband and two children, she hopes to retire to a log cabin in the mountains where she can quietly paint in her studio. Her goal is to one day completely fill a sketchbook.
