Despite her commercial success, Jeanne has always maintained a pri- vate art studio, a “room of her own,” where she can follow her own creative muse. She credits her studio space as a safe refuge that helped her maintain her sanity during the fast-paced work pressures of Hollywood film and tele- vision productions and off-Broadway stage productions, as well as finding balance while raising a child. A music video gig prompted the need for her first studio on the West Coast. “Throughout my adult life, I’ve always made sure that I had an art studio. It’s a choice born out of my intense curiosity and need to create. A stu-
[TOP] Mural for the Santa Barbara Museum of Art [BELOW] Painted Mural
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dio practice is a relationship I will always nurture.” Her current studio is in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara, where the flow of humanity passes by, and a nearby cat petting/animal therapy business thrives. In an open, light-filled space with large worktables, both finished pieces and works in progress hang on white walls, where she can view and rework if needed. Jeanne’s methodology is straightforward. She works on ten-to-twelve pieces at a time, beginning with abstract “energetic color,” using fast-drying paint applied in lay- ers and in a number of ways—brushes, scrapers, sandpaper and rags. She some- times uses her painter’s palette to make vibrant monoprints. More recently, she has been enlarging the collages with UV printing, a digital process using ultraviolet light printed on top of textured panels, with additional gel and paint manipulations. Her favorite color is blue. “But never straight out of the tube,” she says. “I mix it with orange, which is its opposite on the color wheel. This is true of each color I use.” The color combination of purple and green makes her most happy. Some work is a struggle; some just flows. “The struggle—which I have disciplined myself to overcome—persists through the phase when the choices are not evident. Dogged determination is key. A piece is done when it hits a note,” she says. “I can almost hear it when the composition is at peace with itself.
“I admire any person who is courageous enough to make art. It’s daunting, and I
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