About the Artist

Jennifer Roberts watercolor artist in 2020Jennifer Roberts is an emerging, self-taught watercolor artist who has been painting since 2018. She currently lives and works in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, USA. She was surprised by how much she enjoyed watercolor since she is a control freak in her daily life, and watercolor has a mind of its own.

Jennifer often uses stamping, palette knives, and monotype printing techniques to allow the watercolor pigments to behave as they wish. Much of her work is completed in 1-2 layers and features vibrant colors and simple compositions. Her work has been featured on Doodlewash.com, and is included in private collections in Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Arkansas, Illinois, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

A Note from the Artist

I am fascinated with the interaction of pigment and water, and so I prefer to let watercolor take the lead to see what beautiful things it will create. Once I started painting, I found I could not stop because the process is addictive. Even once a painting is complete, there is still the question lingering in the back of the mind: “But what if…?” And the only way to find out is to keep painting, keep creating, keep experimenting.

I gravitate towards creating abstract art without a brush as it lets watercolor’s inherent beauty and movement take center stage. The process of making my art is joyous and playful. This comes through in the works I create with my use of vibrant colors and simple compositions. I am drawn to color and texture and make these the highlight of my abstract works.

Like paint that can never be pushed back into the tube, I strive to always move forward, never backwards, and both my artistic process and my finished work embody this: once paint is placed, I rarely try to alter or adjust it, and my completed works are typically a single layer or two.

Transparent watercolor is a harsh medium: it reveals all mistakes and hesitation. Yet I learn life lessons every time I step into my studio: Be decisive. Never regret. Keep moving forward. We can’t alter or return to the past but we can learn from it and acknowledge how it shapes us.