Watercolor works and effects from the studio collection of Priscilla Jenne, master watercolorist, 1946-1994.
Fine artist Priscilla Jenne was born 1922 in Minneapolis. She began her professional career winning first prizes at local & state competitions beginning at the age of 9. She actively pursued her art through U.S. travel and study. She spent five years on the road with her insurance-salesman father and concert pianist mother, traveling throughout the Southwest, Midwest and New England.
She was mentored by world-renowned print maker and artist Will Barnet (recently passed). Barnet said Jenne was one of America’s best watercolorists. He wrote, “a kind of sunlight bathes her work and her landscapes are poetic visions. Her seascapes and woodlands are among her most lyrical expressions.”
Ms. Jenne received her BFA from Minneapolis School of Art & Design (MCAD) where she later taught. She worked in the early 50's at the Art Instruction School with comic illustrator Charles Schulz. When she planned a move to NYC, Schulz created a number of humorous panels in farewell, drawing Priscilla in the style of his "L'il Folk" cartoon (which later became Peanuts).
She moved to NYC in '59 and married composer and arranger Ed Herzog. From 1975-95 she created her most important series, The Woodlands & Waterways. This huge body of work has been exhibited widely and won numerous awards. In 1995 she and Ed retired to Cedar Crest, New Mexico (East Mountain area of Albuquerque) where the local landscape continued to inspire her well into her 80s.
She never painted from a photograph, preferring always En plein aire or in the open air. She and Ed could be found in various road-side locations throughout the U.S. on most weekends. He at his mini keyboard, she at her easel. The weather often played a key roll in her painting, as wind and storms would build up around them. An avid weather-watcher, Ed would signal the exact timing of an oncoming storm to Priscilla. They would quickly pull her work into the back of their station wagon and wait it out. Then dash back out to continue to capture the rough clouds and skies. Her arch nemesis was a bland white sky, as well as a sudden downpour which could wipe-out her afternoon's work!
Priscilla would sketch continuously as she & Edward drove out from NYC. She never looked down except to decide if the sketch was worthwhile for later use. If so, she would lightly indicate the colors before turning the page. Later, in her studio, she would flesh out these small sketches with watercolor, pencil and ink and even gold paint! These fast sketches became her miniatures. Many are 4" x 6", the size of her Strathmore Imperial Watercolor (140 lb cold press) sketchpad and are true examples of her ability to capture the landscape at high speed.
In 1993 She took her only European tip to visit me in Germany. She desperately wanted to see Paris, so we put her on a bus from Frankfurt to the French capital. Of course she sketched non-stop and those small sketches became the French Countryside Print Series sold here.
