Jackie Ellens

Jackie was born into an army family and by the time she was five, she had lived in four states and two countries. Her family settled in the Michigan area where she spent her teenage years. As a young adult, she attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and studied with Gerome Kamrowski, Vincent Castagnacci, Paul Stewart and Frank Cassara. She graduated with a MFA, majoring in fine art with a minor in art history.

Jacqueline now lives in the Jackson metro area, where she has stayed for over 30 years. Jacqueline completed her MBA at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi.

Jackie frequently paints abstracts, landscapes and still lifes but is also know for her figurative work. She often describes her abstracts as an inner view and her landscapes as an outer view of her world. You will frequently see her travels, animals, friends and the Southern landscape in her paintings. She experiences the world as trembling with energy and she conveys that impression of energy and movement in her paintings with powerful, expressive strokes.

“I often paint trees finding them to be my metaphor for life. You’ll see the bright and cheerful, the wind and turmoil, the elegant and neutral. All express moods associated with my life’s experiences. I also frequently paint the landscape and enjoy the very diffuse and abstracted impression of land and water – moments of haze, sunset, emerging or waning light – moments of spiritual connection. I firmly believe that if artists didn’t create we would have to commit the lot to a very large, very padded facility and I’m sure I’m no different. I am compelled to express myself and my vision of my world in paint and I’m delighted every time that creation connects with someone and enriches their life. ”

Jacqueline is represented by galleries throughout the south.