Featured Artist Jessica Dodge

Artist Jessica Dodge uses a fascinating technique to create her paintings, each of which tells a story. Enjoy her portfolio and visit her website for more information.

 

 

The first time I really noticed that I’d lost track of time while drawing when I was eighteen and just starting art school; I looked up from my finished drawing, it was 4 am and I had no sense of the hours that had passed. I still often work late into the night, losing track of time, making art.

 

 

It has been thirty-eight years since then and I have been a working artist for the majority of that span; not only selling my paintings, but also as a scenic designer and/or painter (mostly theatrical, and a little film), and some teaching. I am always interested in learning about different techniques and other media. I love to collaborate with others in addition to the lone discipline of a studio artist.

 

 

When I create my work, I often start with a narrative I find compelling, when something I encounter sets me on a visual path that excites me; it can be from mythology, literature, poetry, or more immediate sources. I want to leave clues for the viewer like breadcrumbs through the forest, hoping they will find their own way along, encouraging them to imagine what might be going on in there.

 

 

My approach is to use humor, color, dynamic line work and the gorgeous luminosity of oil paint under glass to draw people in a bit closer with hopes of engaging them further.

 

 

I’ll commonly use images of people, or animals, as characters in the storylines of my paintings, but even when I paint a more traditional subject matter (whether it be a Landscape, Botanical, Still Life or Portrait) I often find I am composing the elements in these works as though they were part of a narrative flow as well.

 

 

I was first introduced to painting on glass over thirty years ago by a friend, just after I finished art school. I found conceiving a composition in reverse and layering the color on from behind the viewing surface was an intriguing challenge; and the luminous quality of the oil paint, when viewed through the glass, absolutely delighted me.

 

 

Over time I have developed several techniques with this medium, integrating my drawing and painting styles with the properties of the glass in ways that feel unique to me.

 

 

Though I enjoy creating art in a variety of media, I continue to primarily paint on glass (instead of canvas or board or paper, for instance) because there is something about the transparency of it, the way the underside of my stroke is revealed, the feeling of ‘peering in’ to somewhere else that inspires me both visually, and seems to set the stage for another tale to be told.

 

Jessica Dodge invites you to follow her on Facebook.