Enter to win a free glicee print from featured artist Jennifer Stano

Welcome back to another Thursday Giveaway & Artist Feature!

Today we're visiting with painter & mixed media artist, Jennifer Stano.

Homefires by Jennifer Stano

Jennifer creates energetic pieces in a variety of mediums. Sometimes paints, sometimes collage yet always bursting with bold colors and gestures. You can view her vibrant artwork in her online shop CoatofPaint.etsy.com as well as on her blog, coatofpaintstudio.blogspot.com. Some of the pieces featured here are available in her Etsy shop. Click on the images for details.

Pink Lotus by Jennifer Stano

Also, If you're in Northfield Minnesota, you can view her painting Pink Lotus at the Northfield Arts Guild through Jan. 2nd.

Jennifer is also the newest Thursday Giveaway sponsor. More about that at the bottom of this post. In the meantime, I'm going to step aside & let her tell you a bit about her life and art.

JS: I’m a part-time painter, full-time artist at heart and life-long equestrian. As an art and art history major in college, I never actually gave much thought to becoming a professional artist. It wasn’t until this past year when I discovered Etsy and the wonderful online community that I began to realize the possibility of pursing my passion as a vocation. I was just amazed to discover this supportive, encouraging group of people who were just like me. Many were working in full-time jobs while creating art on the side, and they documented their struggles, passions and inspirations online. Whereas I’m still years away from realizing my dream of becoming a full-time artist, I’ve found so much encouragement and inspiration from this wonderful, creative online community.

Green Bird by Jennifer Stano

JS: In terms of my artistic inspiration, I’m constantly moved by the beauty of the natural world and horses in particular. My earliest art was drawings of horse based on photos I cut from magazines. In college, I returned to this subject matter for my senior art show, which was a series of oil paintings I did from sketches of the horses in my barn.

by Jennifer Stano

JS: I was also very influenced by the time I spent in Italy during college. I was lucky enough to live in Florence and study art in a traditional atelier where we did life drawings from models who posed for 2 week sessions. This time gave me a great respect for the history and tradition on which much of our current techniques are based.

by Jennifer Stano

JS: Currently, I’m doing a series of oil paintings that are very inspired by the abstract impressionist movement. There is no predetermined subject matter, and the process is very direct and physical. I tend to work fast in the preliminary phase and I seek to capture that energy on the canvas without a lot of premeditation so it’s more of an unconscious process of putting a mark down and responding to that mark in an organic way. The painting itself determines what it will become and I just have to make sure I don’t get in the way.

Enchantment by Jennifer Stano

JS: Though I’m primarily an oil painter, at the moment my Etsy shop is heavily weighted towards my watercolor work because I find the scale conducive to online sales and print production.

A Storm Is Gathering by Jennifer Stano

JS: I’ve also started doing some photography and I hope to have a series of fine art photography note card released soon. There are always so many ideas and not enough hours in the day!

Purple Coneflower Cutout by Jennifer Stano

Keep those ideas coming, Jennifer! Your dynamic pieces have a lively organic feel to them. And thanks so much for stopping by today so share your art & thoughts!

So, Readers, would you like to own 1 of of Jennifer's colorful creation? Well here's your chance. She has generously donated an 8 x 10 glicee print of her acrylic painting It All Starts With An Acorn for next Thursday's random drawing.

It All Starts With An Acorn by Jennifer Stano

It is easy to enter! Just leave a comment on this blog before 1 a.m. (EST) on 12/24. That's it. The winner will be announced later that day. Please make sure your contact info is either in your profile or your comment in case you are the lucky winner. This prize ships free to USA & Canada addresses only.

Thanks to everyone who stops in & enters. It is your enthusiasm that keeps these contests & artist features going. If you're in the bloggy neighborhood next weekend please pop by - Jennifer is kindly giving us a tour of her art studio. Won't it be fun to see where she works her magic?

Also if you have any interest in sponsoring a Thursday Giveaway, sharing your art & thoughts with ArtSnark readers or showing off your creative space, please let me know (my email is in my profile). I'm searching for a variety of visual artists to feature in 2010.