About Jackie Griswold

Jackie Griswold

At the age of 61, I view myself as an emerging artist, having begun painting a little over  four years ago.   As a jewelry designer turned painter and photographer, I draw my inspiration from nature – the soft pinks and grays of a sunset, the vibrant red of a geranium, and the turquoise waters of the ocean.  Art, in its many forms, maintains my sanity and my serenity by keeping me grounded while I fly.

When I am in the studio, time disappears as I become engaged with the art.   I find myself particularly influenced by the Abstract Expressionist style of painting at this juncture – the raw emotion and energy that comes out when I’m painting mystifies and excites me. Mixed media work allows me to add depth and texture that adds to the energy.   I often work on more than one painting at a time, especially when working on a series.  I use a variety of materials in my mixed media paintings, and am often quite surprised, and delighted, with where my intuition takes me.

Primarily self-taught, I have had little formal training in any of the media in which I work.   My mother-in-law, herself a wonderful artist, shared her love of art with me on our many visits to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.  When I was attending graduate school in Boston, I was a frequent visitor to the Museum of Fine Arts and the Gardiner Museum.  I have taken two semesters of Painting at Holyoke Community College.  It was a wonderful experience to be a student again.

When I’m not painting, beading or snapping photos, I’m a college professor, a Reiki Master-Teacher, and mother (described by my son as “a hippie without the drugs”) who maintains my connection with nature in all of the various forms my art takes.