About the artist: The Grand Rapids-born artist hails from a family of furniture decorators. As a child, she was surrounded by chinoiserie furniture and Japanese woodblock prints, which inform her water paintings to this day, giving them a transparency of heightened realism. Jenkins’ believes that learning is a lifelong process, and her artistic education has spanned nearly two decades. She has studied under renowned Michigan artists John Blovits and Nathan Goldstein and also taught classes at her alma mater, Kendall College of Art and Design.
After initially working in illustrations, Jenkins found she loved to work directly in front of her subject matter, painting En Plein Air, using both pastels and paints. Drawing from her figurative works, Jenkins views each painting as a “portrait” of a place and time. Debra is a member of the American Society of Marine Artists.
Having traveled across the country for exhibitions, Jenkins says she feels happiest in Michigan, believing the area to be “one of the most beautiful places on the planet.” She enjoys canoeing and kayaking on the waters of Lake Michigan and often chooses “the big lake” as the subject of her paintings, due to the water’s unique patterns and complexity. Each summer she vacations and paints on Beaver Island. When not painting outdoors, Jenkins can be found in her studio, which she often visits seven days a week.
 Nook, 24 x 24
Sparkles, 36 x 12 |
