Artist Bio

Born in the small Ohio town of Lodi, Jennifer Newyear took an interest in art at an early age. Her local art teachers noticed her abilities and encouraged her to paint. After high school she attended Cooper School of Art in Cleveland, OH to study art exclusively. She focused on oil painting, figure drawing and some graphic art processes. After graduating from Cooper School of Art, she worked for 20 years as a partner in a photo and graphic-design studio with photo retouching and graphic design as specialties. Jennifer now enjoys painting and drawing landscapes and people, capturing the character she sees in each. Primarily, her focus is on direct observation oil painting, pastel drawing, sketching/drawing, or watercolor of natural subjects in a somewhat realistic style while often exaggerating color and form. Occasionally, her works are of imagined scenes that she calls Illustrations in Search of a Story. Many of her paintings are completed at an outdoor location following En Plein Air methods. These may be worked later in the studio if the piece will be more on the mark by doing so. The Plein Air paintings also provide a reference for new studio works. Examples of all the above are on view at jennewyear.com. In additon, Jennifer uses photography as an art form which is shown at jennewyearphoto.wordpress.com. Jennifer enjoys both the country and the city. Her photos reflect glimpses of both worlds. Some of her paintings hang in private collections including portraits of the founder of Troy Chemical and his wife. She works out in nature, from her home studio in Richfield, OH and with local life drawing groups.