I play with paint, mixing brushes and knives to create the topography of gesture.
Syracuse University, BFA, 2000
Contemporary artist Jennie Traill Schaeffer is a graduate of Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, where she earned a BFA in painting and art education. She studied abroad in Florence, Italy and received the “Hiram Gee Award,” given each year to a graduating senior painting major.
Named “Best New Artist” in 2006 by the Sussex County Arts & Heritage Council, Jennie’s work is located in a growing number of private collections including Mountain Creek Ski Resort in Vernon, NJ. Her works have earned her publication in the New York Times, the Village Voice and the Star Ledger, and as featured artist on JerseyArts.com. She has received numerous awards and received the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Scholarship for a month-long residency at Peters Valley Craft Center.
Jennie uses oil paints on fairly traditional grounds, then pushes the surface by staining in unconventional colors and treating her subject matter directly. Everything she paints has an energy that she strives to bring to the surface through emphatic edges, vivid colors and heavily textured, gestural brush strokes or knife marks. Jennie looks to re-contextualize kitchen appliances and wedding cakes, among other subjects, to convey their iconic natures while displaying strong indications of their modernity.
In Jennie Traill Schaeffer’s highly stylized still life paintings, commonplace items of yesteryear are transformed into the art icons of today. Her vivid, yet unusual, color choices and expertly rendered reflections playfully catch the eye, drawing the viewer into her pieces. Once there, though, the sheer abundance of detail begs further inspection and with each perusal, new discoveries ensue.
