Jessica Spring

I have always been a sensory person, exploring and drawing scenes of my native New England and Jamaica since I was a child. A graphic design education led me to a long creative career, eventually retiring as an Environmental/Experiential designer, with spare moments creating landscapes in various mediums including oil, acrylic, pen and ink, and even glass. A few years ago, my art changed. I was painting large, figurative landscapes and my method was to draw simple, small pencil sketches first in a journal while in the field, capturing composition, color and ‘feel’. I would then re-create the sketch on a large canvas, painting gesturally, expansively. Now, I am looking through this small window, offering viewers an alternate way of seeing a large world, creating realistic miniature landscapes (most are 2”x4”), and blending soft-core pencils. Instead of the 5-6 colors I used for a sketch, I work with over 60 color pencils to create my mini-landscapes. Landscapes can be overwhelming — this seemingly never-ending sky, or the massiveness of a mountain range — though when in a small perspective we are transported to a place of intimacy, holding a tiny gift that belongs to the individual. In scaling it down, I am making it personal. This is what I want to give the viewer. People get close to the art or lean in to look and tell me how they are connected to it.

Artist and experiential designer Jessica Spring lives and works in a home and studio that she designed and built in Galisteo, NM, with her husband and two cats. When not creating art, she is a singer-songwriter, half of the musical duo Sweet Remedy, and volunteers at the local fire department. Spring graduated with a BFA in advertising design and photography, utilizing an eye for composition and color in her fine art. She was Creative Director for the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and served as a board member of two art associations in New England. Her art is in private collections, and she has exhibited in small galleries, restaurants and libraries. She participates in the Galisteo Studio Tour, festivals at El Rancho de Las Golondrinas, and local art markets.

2-D, Drawing