Jennifer Rice
Artist and Illustrator
Native to the Pacific Northwest-inspired by the beauty of my home
As a native to the Pacific Northwest, I am inspired to paint the beauty of the wilderness and wildlife of the PNW. My love of color and the joy I feel in the natural world is reflected in my artwork. I love living near the mountains and the ocean. As a native of Seattle, both the lush mountains and the beautiful placid Puget Sound have been a constant in my life. My dad would take me fishing, hunting for chanterelle mushrooms, and backpacking through the Cascades and the wild Olympic mountains. I would spend weeks on a boat with a friend, exploring the Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.
In high school, I studied art and photography and received a scholarship award for a photography display at Ingraham High School. I completed an Associate’s degree in Photography and then switched my major to Wildlife Science. My love of art followed me through everything, and now I have found a way to combine the two passions.
I love experimenting with new mediums; however, my favorites are watercolor, acrylic, and painting/sketching digitally in Procreate on an iPad. I thoroughly enjoy working digitally because I can combine techniques and textures between mediums, and present them in new and unique ways. I can set the iPad down and pick it back up where I left off, a very important aspect when you are a parent of busy boys! Digital painting brings everything I love about acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media onto one page at my fingertips. I’m also currently experimenting with making my own ink and paint from natural earth pigments and organic materials.
In 2018 I submitted artwork to Minted, a website that sources all its designs and art prints from independent artists. I received an editor’s pick for the Minted/Pottery Barn challenge, and this artwork is available for sale through the Minted/Pottery Barn partnership (see it here). I have displayed my artwork many times at local coffee shops in Mukilteo and Everett, and have cards, prints, and stickers of my artwork in stores around the Puget Sound. In 2012, I donated two large paintings to an auction benefiting Cedar Park Christian School in Bothell, WA. As an independent designer, I have an ongoing project creating digital sticker packs for an online agenda (Artful Agenda).
I frequently explore different designs, from the very simple to the bold and abstract. The one unifying theme to my artwork that ties it together is my intense love of color; the more the merrier. I’m excited to have moved to my studio full-time in the fall of 2019.
