Jen Sicha
Northbay ArtWorks
7049 Redwood Blvd, Ste 208
Novato, CA 94945
415.892.8188
7049 Redwood Blvd, Ste 208
Novato, CA 94945
415.892.8188
Artist Statement
Jen Sicha
I grew up in a small town in northwestern Ohio. My mom has always been my biggest inspiration. She is a gifted artist who, built her own decorative painting business in Toledo, Ohio. I worked alongside her painting murals and doing wall finishes throughout high school and college. During my final year of college I attended SACI school of art in Florence, Italy. I took the most incredible drawing and art history courses there. I came back changed forever. I was excited to explore and pursue my art career in California.
With a BFA from Bowling Green State University, I moved to San Francisco. There, I had the opportunity to apprentice for Master trompe l’oeil painter John Pugh. John is brilliant at his craft and I’m forever grateful for him guiding my eye in the subtleties of shadow and light and exploring form with accurate precision. His work is in a multitude of private homes and businesses around the globe. I moved on to work with RDG (Restaurant design group) in San Francisco doing wall finishes and artwork on large scale commercial projects. Some of our clients were restaurant chains like Chevys, Juice shops and casinos in Las Vegas. This was a wonderful glimpse into the world of commercial art where we had strict deadlines and needed to get a lot of work done in little time. For the next 15 years, I refined my craft in private clients homes. I was commissioned by interior designers, architects and contractors in the San Francisco Bay Area.
After my children were born, I took a hiatus to enjoy and nurture them. By necessity, my art began to take on a different direction. I relied on intuition and spontaneity, happily painting with my impulses. I drew on my wall finishing skills to create color washes and rich backgrounds on large canvases, eventually abandoning form and making mostly abstract works. I continue to seek out inspiration through travel across the US and Europe, most recently returning to Florence and attending a wonderful life drawing workshop with Vianna Szabo.
I’m most at peace when I’m quietly working away in my studio at NorthBay Artworks in Novato, CA. I relish in the freedom and expression of painting. I love to play with value, dimension, composition and line quality.
My work is characterized by soft translucent veils of color combined with vivid deliberate strokes and lyrical lines. I would describe my palate as playful, fresh, and happy. The layering of colors and ghost markings give way to a sense of mystery, giving my paintings an infinite, ethereal quality. It brings me unspeakable joy when people find my work uplifting. For, I believe its easier to tune into love from a happy heart.
I grew up in a small town in northwestern Ohio. My mom has always been my biggest inspiration. She is a gifted artist who, built her own decorative painting business in Toledo, Ohio. I worked alongside her painting murals and doing wall finishes throughout high school and college. During my final year of college I attended SACI school of art in Florence, Italy. I took the most incredible drawing and art history courses there. I came back changed forever. I was excited to explore and pursue my art career in California.
With a BFA from Bowling Green State University, I moved to San Francisco. There, I had the opportunity to apprentice for Master trompe l’oeil painter John Pugh. John is brilliant at his craft and I’m forever grateful for him guiding my eye in the subtleties of shadow and light and exploring form with accurate precision. His work is in a multitude of private homes and businesses around the globe. I moved on to work with RDG (Restaurant design group) in San Francisco doing wall finishes and artwork on large scale commercial projects. Some of our clients were restaurant chains like Chevys, Juice shops and casinos in Las Vegas. This was a wonderful glimpse into the world of commercial art where we had strict deadlines and needed to get a lot of work done in little time. For the next 15 years, I refined my craft in private clients homes. I was commissioned by interior designers, architects and contractors in the San Francisco Bay Area.
After my children were born, I took a hiatus to enjoy and nurture them. By necessity, my art began to take on a different direction. I relied on intuition and spontaneity, happily painting with my impulses. I drew on my wall finishing skills to create color washes and rich backgrounds on large canvases, eventually abandoning form and making mostly abstract works. I continue to seek out inspiration through travel across the US and Europe, most recently returning to Florence and attending a wonderful life drawing workshop with Vianna Szabo.
I’m most at peace when I’m quietly working away in my studio at NorthBay Artworks in Novato, CA. I relish in the freedom and expression of painting. I love to play with value, dimension, composition and line quality.
My work is characterized by soft translucent veils of color combined with vivid deliberate strokes and lyrical lines. I would describe my palate as playful, fresh, and happy. The layering of colors and ghost markings give way to a sense of mystery, giving my paintings an infinite, ethereal quality. It brings me unspeakable joy when people find my work uplifting. For, I believe its easier to tune into love from a happy heart.
