The inspiration for my art goes back to my childhood kitchen table where my Dad and I sat counting and identifying birds as they came to our feeders. With pastels, I seek to honor that precious memory and bring to life the birds I have seen throughout the years. Every bird I paint is a bird I have seen in the wild. 

As an untrained artist, when I first started working with pastels, my goal was fairly simple - I wanted to add some color to charcoal sketches and pastels seemed a natural means to that end. The more I used them, the more I began to appreciate just how many types of pastels there are, and how they interact with one another and the surface to which they are applied.  Today, although I continue to work towards the goal of painting my birding life-list, I am also actively exploring ways of applying and blending the various type of pastels, always in pursuit of the gorgeous glow that this medium is capable of producing. In addition, I am actively exploring the effects of pastels on a variety of surfaces. Most recently, amate bark paper has captured my imagination and provided an entirely new set of challenges to work through. I am thoroughly enjoying the process of learning how to work with this truly unique surface.

Although I sometimes paint other subjects, including mammals and people and the occasional landscape, I cannot help feeling that birds, with all their jewel like tones and delicate features are the perfect subject for a pastelist - at least for this pastelist! They remain my favorite thing to paint!           

Jennie Johannesen is a research psychologist by training, and a Mom in practice. Her life has reinvented itself repeatedly over the years. With her children grown, she now finds herself striving to develop her skills as an artist.