“I’ve always loved painting and creating things. I started as a child and just never stopped.”

 Spear, who has experimented with a wide range of mediums and subject matter, has been exploring art as far back as she can remember. After doodling, drawing, and painting her way through elementary and secondary school, her passion for art led her to study art and graphic design in Seattle, where she received a degree, honed her skills, and decided to become a professional artist.

Primarily a painter, Jennifer cites art deco and art nouveau as major influences, as well as the works of Maxwell Parrish, John Singer Sargent, and even contemporary artists like Max Cole. Her budding art career led her to Las Vegas from Seattle. There, she sold her art in top galleries, focusing on highly realistic portraits and pinups of pop icons, such as Audrey Hepburn, Betty Page, and Elizabeth Taylor. Fully immersed in the Vegas art scene, she found herself living comfortably with a community of artists, critics, and eccentric art benefactors such as Hugh Hefner.

But after visiting Asheville in the fall of 2010, she found her heaven on earth. As many who visit do, she fell in love with the beautiful skies, trees, and mountains, and decided to stay. Finding new inspiration and a renewed energy to paint, the scenes of nature and wildlife that abound in Asheville inspired her to paint bears and foxes, butterflies and sunflowers, and rivers and mountain scenes. Though she’s traditionally worked with acrylics, oils, and watercolors on

canvas, she discovered her current technique by accident. Now, she uses liquid watercolor on birch board, which is not a traditional use of each medium. In fact, the only other artist known to do so, was William Blake (1757-1827), from whom she learned a few tips.

In addition to creating paintings of what she’s discovered in Asheville, she also created her only child, who inspires her even more. They live together with an adopted dog named Oreo, who accompanies them on long drives through the countryside in pursuit of new ideas to paint and new stories to tell.

“I like to watch the way light moves across a range of mountains. I love the colors that arise from the interplay, and I love to seek out the shadows and see how they shape our world.”

“I’ll study a landscape, animal, or creature, and learn about it as I paint it. By doing so I re-discover in more and more intricate detail, the things I’ve seen, and the things we all-too-often walk too quickly by”.