About the Artist: Jennifer Yoswa
February 2024 Issue
About the Cover Artist — Jennifer Yoswa
by Lindsay Gifford
“I guess, in some ways, every painting I create is me….some sort of self-portrait in a way. The women (characters) in my paintings have something to say about love, loss, and life. They are my voice.” – Jennifer Yoswa
Visual storyteller and this month’s cover artist, Jennifer Yoswa, has a vibrant personality as bright as her colorful artwork. A self-taught oil painter, Jennifer’s art journey has been anything but ordinary. While in her late 30s, she began to feel something was missing, a piece of herself. So, surprisingly she began to get creative with everything she could think of when she put charcoal to paper. She began to study the play of light on objects, shadows, and it all seemed to feel right. From there she worked up the courage to put paint to canvas, and the rest, well, that’s history. It was a love affair that’s still going strong today.
A self-pronounced introvert and perfectionist, Jennifer said, “The day I picked up a paintbrush and applied oil paint to canvas was the day I discovered my voice. I create colorful, soulful, strong, and playful portraits, primarily of women, celebrating their complex and essential place in our world and relationships.”
Passionate about creating art that connects with her collectors as part of themselves, Jennifer’s artwork is meant to be empowering, yet tender and occasionally mischievous. To encapsulate some of her passion, Jennifer created an alter ego, whom she’s dubbed “Big Lady.” Feisty, fearless, and occasionally inappropriate, Jennifer says they’ve been in artistic cahoots for over 20 years. While Jennifer approaches the beginning a piece with a plan, sketch and first layer of paint, Big Lady often takes it from there, working with excited abandon…scooping mounds of cold wax, stitching scraps onto canvas, and pushing paint around with brushes, palette knives, and her fingers. “She has paint in her hair and paint on her face....I don't know what I'd do without her. Together, we create colorful, soulful, and playful portraits that celebrate humans, their place in our world, and their relationships,” said Jennifer.
Looking ever forward, last year, Jennifer and two of her closest friends created an online art platform Artburst Studios, where creatives and collectors connect through virtual art shows. In fact, “Moonlight Sonata”—Pink’s cover piece this month—was inspired by the theme for the inaugural show: “Inside Outside Upside Down.” Jennifer strived to create something that was visually tangled, romantic, and impossible. If you look closely, the artwork offers a bit of intrigue. When probed, Jennifer said, “It delights me to add unexpected, confusing, or surprising elements to my pieces. I want my viewers to do a double take, count the number of feet or hands, be puzzled and curious…and eventually chuckle or smile. I add these details at the very end of the painting, and I don’t know what they’ll be until the painting speaks to me.” Now, we guess you’ll be taking a second look at the cover, too!
Though Jennifer is based in Colorado, her colorful collection of work can be viewed by visiting www.JenniferYoswa.com where you can purchase originals and giclee prints. Her artwork can also be found at www.artburstudios.com, where she’ll be participating in the May show. Follow her artistic journey in real time on Facebook @TheArtofJenniferYoswa, on Instagram @JenniferYoswa_Art and on Pinterest @JHYoswa.