By permission of the artist, The Cyber Art Show is pleased to feature the second of two 12-piece exhibitions of works by American landscape painter Jennifer Young (born 1967 in Texas, USA).

Jennifer Young is a listed artist who lives and works in Ashland, Virginia. She creates vibrant landscape oil paintings of the American south and of various scenes throughout Europe. She received her formal training in painting and art history at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. During college and after graduation, her focus was largely centered on exploring the human figure. As an art history major with a concentration in painting, Young traveled to Europe and she was particularly drawn to the painters of the early Renaissance. She loved the drama and theatricality of those paintings, and sought to incorporate a similar kind of emotional narrative into her own work. Her early figurative paintings garnered gallery and museum shows in United States, including venues such as the Hofstra Museum and Purdue University.

But fate and life would intervene to profoundly affect her art. As Young explains in her own words, "When my father died from pancreatic cancer, I went through a great deal of introspection. Gradually I turned from painting large psychological figurative works to exploring a different kind of painting tradition--the landscape. I found myself wanting more and more to create in a way that was personally more life affirming; and the act of getting out of the studio to paint directly from nature was in the beginning a way for me to lift my own spirits. I had always been drawn to landscape paintings," she continues, "and I would occasionally experiment with them, even in my 'figurative' days. But the summer after my father died, my husband bought me a great birthday gift--my first outdoor easel. It was then that I explored the art of outdoor painting, or painting 'en plein air' in a serious way. It was exhilarating!" From that point on, Young says she was hooked on painting the landscape.

Her renewed love of landscape painting naturally led her to explore in greater depth the paintings of the French Impressionists; namely Monet, Renoir, and Sisley. She also has continued her education along the way, studying with living masters Kevin Macpherson, Kenn Backhaus, and Matt Smith, among others. Her love of the landscape has taken her on many adventures to Europe and to scenic places in the American South to develop fresh new ideas for her paintings. While she regularly paints on location, Jennifer also works in her Ashland studio. Throughout her career, while her paintings continue to evolve, there has remained threads of continuity, such as her love of color and her desire to create strong and dynamic compositions.

Jennifer currently shows her work in art galleries on the U.S east coast, as well as in her online gallery (see link below). 

       Recent Exhibitions, Publications, and Honors

-August 2015: Participated in “Lay of the Land,” juried art Exhibition at Gallery Flux, Ashland, VA

 

-June 2015: Featured artist and demo at the Little Gallery on Smith Mountain Lake, Moneta, VA.

 

-March 2015: Jennifer's painting "Winter Sunset, North Run Creek", was selected as part of the FAV15% (jury's favorite 15% of the entries) in the March 2015 FASO/Fine Art Views BoldBrush Painting competition.

 

-July 2014: Jennifer's plein air paintings were featured in Plein Air Magazine's EZine OutdoorPainter.com.

 

-May 2013: Featured artist at Design Domaine Gallery in Bernardsville, NJ.

 

-April- June 2013: Featured artist at the H. Scott November Gallery at Westminster Canterbury, Richmond, VA.

 

-February 2013: Jennifer was commissioned to paint 7 original paintings for author Frances Mayes' Tuscan Sun Wines new line of wine labels.

 

   (for full CV/Resume, see Official Bio link, below)