Painting Post: Pastel Pick of the Week | Jennifer L. Hoffman Paints the Wonder of Nature [feedly]

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Pastel Pick of the Week | Jennifer L. Hoffman Paints the Wonder of Nature
// Artist's Network

In a new solo exhibition entitled "Wonderment," Wyoming artist Jennifer L. Hoffman paints the unique beauty of the natural world in the beautiful valley around Jackson Hole, where she has lived for 20 years. "I think 'Wonderment' kind of summarizes my experience of becoming part of this very special community," says Hoffman. "I have never stopped feeling a sense of wonder since I arrived."

Doe-Eyed (pastel, 12×24) by Jennifer L. Hoffman

Hoffman's latest exhibition follows a time of creative exploration. "A friend recently reminded me of the importance of play in our work," she explains. As a result, Hoffman has been enjoying an experimental phase. "I've been playing with oil and cold wax on various supports, playing with the surface of the paint, applying it with rollers, palette knives, and house painting brushes," she says. "I've been using pastels on interfacing fabric and on homemade surfaces."

Hoffman has also included more wildlife in her current work than has been typical for the landscape painter. "My focus in this work has been to capture the momentary wonders that delight me, which is not really a new direction for my work," she says. "But recognizing how much I'm delighted by the birds in my backyard, by the deer who frequent my garden, by the diverse wild things that surround us here, I'm enjoying my attempts to capture my wild neighbors in paint and pastel."

The artist will be donating a portion of her exhibition sales to the Meg and Bert Raynes Wildlife Fund in support of Nature Mapping. She explains, "The underlying idea behind my show is that, with careful observation of what is around us, there are moments of pure wonder and awe to be experienced in our own backyards, in our own hometowns. Being in touch with our immediate environment is our link into both a much smaller and a much larger, more encompassing world. I feel like what I'm doing as an artist and what the Nature Mapping project is doing are two sides of the same coin: Encouraging people to be fully present in their own corner of the world, to make a record, to take notice. I believe that art and science can work arm in arm to elicit the value of wild things of all sorts."

What: Wonderment—New Works by Jennifer L. Hoffman

Where: Trio Fine Art in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

When: July 8 – 25, 2015

Opening Reception: Thursday, July 23rd, from 5-8 pm

For more information: Visit Trio Fine Art

You'll find a full-length feature about artist Jennifer L. Hoffman in the February 2012 issue of Pastel Journal available for download here.

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