Yelloconuts
Fourth Place Nanny James Memorial Award
Watercolor
22" x 30"
$3,500
Contact
JKGillWatercolor@aol.com
JeanKGill.com
Jean refers to her paintings as representational rather than realistic, and she often includes abstract areas in much of her work. She stresses pattern, shape, and edges and infuses her watercolors with energy, celebration, or drama. She works mainly in preselected pure hues and enjoys exaggerating contrasts, using a full value range, painting the negative space, employing bold colors, and letting the watercolors flow. She creates small landscapes from imagination and larger works from her own photo references.
She often works in series and invents new words as titles which suggest her objective for the piece. Yellowconuts is one such neologism, and it is part of a series on coconuts. She enjoys this subject because she gravitates to the curvilinear. She paints on dry, vertical paper using gravity and spritzing to encourage mixing, softening, and downward movement.
Artist Statement
Jean is an artist, juror, and educator with a love of both science and art. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, where she emphasized biological sciences and studio art and was certified to teach both subjects. She has done graduate work in zoology and has studied with over 20 watercolor masters.
Jean taught life, earth, and physical science at the jr. high level and high school chemistry. For twenty-two years, she was a watercolor instructor for Fairfax Co. Public Schools’ Adult and Community Education program, where she developed courses in color, landscape, and painting techniques for beginning, intermediate, and advanced, adult learners.
Jean encourages her students to experiment, find and express their passion, and enjoy the pursuit of individual style and personal growth. She believes that her evolution as an artist is enhanced by teaching other adults who share an enthusiasm for lifelong learning and watercolor painting.
Bio
Jean is a signature member of the American, National, VA, PA, MO, W CO (Master), Philadelphia, and Baltimore Watercolor Societies. In 2019, she was awarded the Crest Medal for consistent excellence in works entered in annual PWCS exhibitions.
Her paintings have been included in numerous publications, including 5 volumes of North Light’s Splash, 3 volumes of The Artistic Touch, International Contemporary Artists Vol. 4, Eyes on: Landscapes, Flowers in Watercolor, The Best of Watercolor Painting Composition, International Artist, American Artist, and The Art of Watercolour. In 2018, her work was shown at 3 venues in China, and in 2010, she was one of 20 Americans included in the Shanghai Zhujiajiao International Watercolour Biennial Exhibition. She was recognized in the 20th anniversary issue of Watercolor as one of 20 emerging artists.
Jean has been juried into well over 150 shows and won numerous awards including the AWS’s Mario Cooper and Dale Meyers Medal, the NWS’s Watercolor West Award, BWS’s Bronze, and VWS’s Silver. Jean served on boards of the VWS and Potomac Valley Watercolorists and as chapter president and a coordinating council chair in the ΔΚΓ International Honor Society of Professional Women Educators. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College.