Bio

As a professional artist I love the simple joy of layering pigment on paper.

I work in 2 quite different mediums: watercolor and pastel.

Watercolor is a very fresh, intuitive process that involves layering water-based paint on paper. You start with your lightest washes and build successively darker with each pass, leaving the white of the paper showing thru for your brightest highlights. There’s no turning back once you’ve made a design or color commitment and I must admit, I throw away more pieces than I keep. But every once in a while, you have an inspired moment where you create exactly the effect you wanted – or even more exciting – you produce something that veers from your original idea and exceeds your expectations!

Pastel seems to me to be almost the polar opposite of watercolor. This opaque, dry medium uses strong unadulterated color and is as close as you can get to painting with pure pigment. I usually start with my dark and medium colors first and slowly build to bright highlights with lighter pastels. I find this medium a bit more forgiving. If I change my mind, I can change anything from color to form to position, just by scraping and redrawing. Pastel is a challenging medium for me and I am constantly learning new skills and techniques. But no doubt about it – I’m hooked!

My subjects are varied, ranging from back country landscapes to inner city architecture, from formal portraits to casual nudes. I love to travel and sometimes work from photos I’ve taken on the road, but when weather permits, my first choice is always to paint outdoors (plein air).

The consistent theme that attracts me is light and shadow. How does sunlight play on an old building? What happens to the folds of material on a dress when light cascades across it? Do leaves on a tree appear differently at various times of day? How is color affected when ambient light changes?

I aim for realism with a painterly twist in my work, but sometimes I allow the rich hues and textures of a scene to dominate. Watercolor and pastel are exhilarating mediums that lead to endless adventures… and sometimes I’m just happy to follow their lead.

BIOGRAPHY
Jill Stefani Wagner’s watercolor paintings and pastel drawings have been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout the MidWest, and her work hangs in various public and private collections throughout the United States.

Jill was recently honored with two honorable mentions in the Pastel Journal’s Pastel 100 Competition. The Greater Michigan Art Exhibition awarded her the Excellence in Technique Award in 2004 and she recently was selected as an exhibitor in the Great Lakes Pastel Society National Competition. In 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005 and 2003, her work was accepted into the Annual Michigan Water Color Society Exhibitions. She has also displayed in various group shows including “Celebrating the Figure”, at the Lansing Art Gallery and “Michigan Landscapes” at the Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti.

Ms. Wagner has had solo exhibitions at The University of Michigan League, the University of Michigan Pierpoint Commons and the University of Michigan Health System. She has exhibited frequently in the Ann Arbor Women Artist’s juried exhibitions and is the recipient of a Best of Show and two Awards of Merit from that organization.

Her work is represented by the River Gallery, in Chelsea, Michigan, Tvedten Fine Art in Harbor Springs, Michigan, and the Button-Petter Gallery in Douglas, Michigan. She is a member of the National Watercolor Society, the Pastel Society of America, the Michigan Water Color Society, the Great Lakes Pastel Society, the Ann Arbor Women Artists and the Ann Arbor Area Pastelists.

Jill Stefani Wagner was born in Port Huron, Michigan. She received a B.F.A. from The University of Michigan School of Art and is senior partner of a successful graphic design firm in Ann Arbor, Michigan.