In the Studio with Artist Jen Sterling

Jen Sterling is an Annapolis-based artist who is an abstract expressionist, colorist, entrepreneur, wife and mother. She graduated from George Washington University earning a BA in Visual Communications with a minor in Psychology.

Color has always had a profound influence on her state of mind. For 30 years she worked in corporate branding and color almost always played a pivotal role in the brand systems she developed for her clients. In 2020, she sold her company and transitioned to being a full-time artist.

Some of the paintings she created has come out of her in just a few hours... they are fully-formed and ready to blast onto my canvas. In some instances, the art is built slowly over several weeks and layers until it has developed just the right feeling... it evolves into something she did not visualize prior to beginning. Some of her favorite pieces are those that develop over time. They begin with a seed of an idea or a fragment of an image that pops into her head. Slowly form and motion start to creep in and energy starts to bubble up. She gets more and more excited about what is happening and that excitement gets translated through her brush strokes onto the canvas.

Jen’s goal of her work is to inspire energy and excitement from within – to empower the viewer to do something bold. Her paintings are not meant to “be vanilla” or just match your couch. These images are meant to make you feel strong and powerful — to help you feel the excitement she had in creating it — to burst into your morning with a zing or invigorate your senses after a long day. Ideally, her art reminds you that life is for feeling and stretching and living.

Here’s Jen talking about her work:

What art do you most identify with? I am drawn to paint in an abstract fashion. The colors and layers of imagery energize me and bring me joy. They encourage the viewer to get involved with the piece and to layer their own experiences over top of it. 

When did you realize you were an artist? I originally went to college intending to be a lawyer or a genetic engineer. I was required to take an art class for my degree and the only one that fit into my schedule was a basic typography class. It changed my trajectory and sent me down the path to be a graphic designer. It seemed the perfect answer… a way of being creative and yet making a living. No starving artist role for me! It took me 30 years (I loved most of them) to realize that I wanted to express my creativity more as a painter rather than as a designer. SO… I have always been creative but only discovered in the past several years that art was my true calling.

How did you get into your art/side-gig?  I have always loved art and felt creative, but my own artistic endeavors had always been limited to school projects or in my previous career of graphic design. While traveling in the American southwest with my sister almost 20 years ago, I was struck by the colors I saw there – so vivid, so alive, so powerful. The experience struck me so much that when I came home I immediately bought paint and canvas and started trying to convey the rich spectrum of emotions those colors evoked in me. I painted for many years as a hobby… never imagining that I could make it a full-time thing. Until 2020 when I sold my business to my partner and took on the mantel of “artist” full-time. It feels amazing!!

What are you currently working on? I have spent the past month building a business and marketing strategy for my art. Really spending a lot of time on the left side of my brain. This month I am working through ideas for a new series of work. I have a one-man show scheduled for this fall and I am determined to make a splash with a powerful presentation.

What's your favorite piece of artwork that you have created and why?  "The Beginning" is an example of a piece that brings me great joy and energy each time I see it. It is reminiscent of a phoenix rising from the ashes. It inspires me to take action, invest myself, and create something wonderful with my time and talents.

What memorable responses have you had to your work? My work definitely has more of an impact in person as opposed to online. Witnessing a buyer interact with a piece that speaks to them for the very first time is magical. Sometimes you hear an audible intake of breath… other times I have watched them struggle for the words. Knowing that a piece I have created has had such an emotional impact on someone is so rewarding. It is why I paint.

What work do you most enjoy creating? I absolutely love the paintings that find themselves over time. I don’t know where they are going when I start them… the magic occurs once I make my first mark and then start the process of reacting to it.

What’s your favorite quote? Non-art quote: “A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Art quote: “Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness.” (Anne Albers)

What food, drink, song inspires you?

Food: Dark chocolate. Daily!

Drink: Champagne! I love the bubbles and the way it loosens my “coulda/shoulda/woulda” tendencies.

Song: Anything with a strong beat and powerful lyrics. Something I can get swept up in and I end up dancing around the studio singing at the top of my lungs.

What role does the artist have in society? Each artist can choose their role(s). Some will record history, some will make a statement or push an agenda. Some will “color in the lines” and some will push boundaries and break rules to make society grow or change. Some choose to make an impact across an entire society, others choose to move a small niche audience. Regardless of the specific role, I feel strongly that a society can not survive without artists. Artists are the bubbles in the champagne that bring awareness, feelings, and knowledge to the surface.

What’s your dream job? I’m in it now. It took me 30 years and five companies to find the perfect job that lights my fire every single damn day.

Is there any local artist that Inspires you? If so, who and why? I recently learned about work by Jeff Huntington. (https://jeffhuntington.com/) I find his portrait work to be very powerful and unique.

Many of the other local artists that I am aware of do more traditional imagery of crabs, sailboats, water, etc. They do beautiful work but I see so much of it that I don’t find inspiration in it. I am driven to seek out those artists that are not necessarily mainstream. It is difficult to do under COVID restrictions and I can not wait for the opportunity to get out and see more work in galleries and festivals.

Why art? Because it is the language of my soul.

See more of Jen’s work at Jensterling.com or her art instagram is @jensterlingart and her Facebook at  https://www.facebook.com/jensterlingart .