
Jay Jensen enjoys capturing the unique magic of a dramatic sky or the late afternoon light. He currently lives in Canada and has been influenced by the work of Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Edward Hopper and Andrew Wyeth. Jay considers himself a figurative painter, but particularly loves painting ocean views. He does a lot of glazing which make his works even more luminous in person.
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About The Artist
Artist Statement
I also stopped painting for over twenty years due to family obligations and work. I’m in catch-up mode now. It’s important that each of my paintings be as good as I can make them. That’s probably why I rework a lot of them after they are “finished”.
I guess, above all, I consider myself to be a figurative painter. To me, it’s the most challenging and the most rewarding direction for a painter to take. It requires good compositional skills, i.e., working in the abstract, and a mastery of technique in order to create a slice of the world that seems real, but one that is also imaginary.
I don’t deliberately try to make a statement or convey a message with my work either. I’m attracted to light and color, and that’s what I try to reproduce in my paintings. I want to make images that are interesting to look at, both up close and from a distance. Whatever emotion or meaning that may come through happens as a by-product, as a result that I was the one wielding the brush and mixing the colors. One of my favorite quotes by an artist that illustrates that I am by no means unique in how I regard my work, comes from Edward Hopper, who famously said: “What I wanted to do was to paint sunlight on the side of a house”.
Artist Background
Colorado State University
Master of Fine Arts, 1980
Gettysburg College
Bachelor of Arts, 1976
Hear What Collectors Say About Jay's Work
I was in the process of moving and was without any internet when I received your message so I wrote back to your email address. Now that my internet service has been re-established, I'm adding my message to the gallery blog space. Thank you for your message. I'm very thrilled that you are enjoying my painting. It's such an honor that you thought enough about my work to actually purchase a piece. I'll tell you a story about the genesis of the painting. My girlfriend and I went on a camping trip to Ocracoke Island, a barrier island off the coast of North Carolina. We brought our dog Micky along. After being cooped up in the car for a day and a half, she went nuts with joy on the endless beach. That dog taught me a lesson about the importance of living in the moment. That's the beauty of dogs. They don't brood over the past or worry about the future. I try to convince myself to do the same but with limited success. Thanks so much for the support and I hope my painting brings you many years of pleasure.
We love our new painting, Dog Happy. We are big dog lovers, have a big pack of rescued dogs that are part of our family, and this painting will hang proudly in our house at the ocean. Thank you, we love it!