Watercolor painting of people waiting at the cheese counter at Zingerman's Deli.

Watercolor painting 9 inches x 11 inches $300

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

Here in Ann Arbor, we are soooo lucky to have one of the best delicatessens in the world. Zingerman’s is a true food bonanza! They carry the finest cheeses, meats, olive oils, breads and make unbelievable sandwiches. My husband adores the store and spends way more than he should there, buying mouth watering treats every week. I shot a reference photo of him parked at his favorite location: right in front of the cheese and meat counter.

It was a challenge to do a watercolor painting of this scene which is crowded with so many items, especially on yuppo paper. I cropped in tight and left out a lot of extraneous detail so I could focus on the dynamic composition and the light emanating from the food cases.

Poster for Braun Farms Exhibit in Saline, Michigan

Part of what I love about being an artist in Ann Arbor, Michigan is the great art associations we have in the area. I am a board member of Ann Arbor Women Artists and belong to Ann Arbor Pastelists, Whitmore Lake Portrait Group and the Michigan Water Color Society. I’m also a member of national art associations like the Great Lakes Pastel Society, the National Watercolor Society and Pastel Society of America. But I feel much more connected, and have learned much more, from my daily dealings with the dedicated painters in our local groups. These individuals range from seasoned professionals to novice beginners, but they all bring unique insights and solutions to the everyday tasks of being a working artist.

Recently a group of Saline painters decided to organize an exhibit of paintings of a beautiful local farm in our area. I think it will be a very interesting experiment–almost like a documentary in paint–one place seen from a variety of different viewpoints and created in different mediums. I was happy to be asked to participate and put together the poster for the event.

If you are able, please stop by to check out the many artworks on view at My Favorite Cafe at 101 South Ann Arbor Street in Saline. The show will run from January thru February of 2010.We’d love to see you at the reception on January 8th from 7-9 pm!

9-canvas watercolor family quilt painting

9 separate watercolor portrait paintings.     Finished size 36″ x 36″.     Not for sale.

I’ve been working on this project for a couple of months–which is a very long time for me. I usually paint very quickly because I have absolutely no patience and I want instant gratification. Kind of like a child, no?

But this piece was important to me and worth the wait. These are portraits of 2 generations of my family–myself, 2 sisters, husbands and children. I plan to expand it to 16 watercolor portraits and add my mother, grandkids and new nephews as they marry into the family. But I wanted to have at least part of the quilt finished and mounted on the wall for our family Thanksgiving which will be at our house this year.

Because, after all, this IS what I am most thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!

(these 9 images were painted on the 12 by 12 inch watercolor canvas that has recently become available. I used only 3 colors throughout to harmonize all of the painting: alizarin crimson, utltramarine blue and cadium yellow medium. To finish and protect the paintings, I sprayed with Krylon finishing spray. No need for glass!)

SafeHouse Center is an organization that fights domestic violence and sexual assault in Washtenaw County. I have recently become a board member and am really excited about working to strengthen this important community asset. I designed and produced a calendar filled with the art of local women artists as a fundraiser to help SafeHouse continue their good work during these trying economic times. Although their funds have been cut, they are serving more families than ever before and the shelter is full to over-flowing. For a small donation of $15 for 1 or $40 for 3 (plus shipping) you can make a difference in the lives of thousands of women and children.

Please contact me if you would be interested in supporting SafeHouse AND owning a beautiful, art-filled calendar. They make perfect holiday gifts!

Pastel plein air painting of a dirt road framed in autum leaves.

Pastel painting 6 inches x 9 inches       $100

Please contact me if you are interested in similar artwork.

It was friggin cold on Sunday afternoon. But I persisted. The colors in southeast Michigan are starting to burst out and I refused to miss the explosion! The back roads were filled with orange and yellow and this little lane looked like a perfect place to set up for a pastel landscape painting. Within 20 minutes, my fingers were absolutely numb. I was packing up to go when a sweet man who owned a farm on this road stopped to chat. He told me how beautiful the fields behind his house were and invited me to paint there. I couldn’t refuse. I will post that painting in a couple of days.

SafeHouse Center, an organization that fights to stop domestic violence and sexual assault in Michigan is very close to my heart. I designed a calendar filled with the art of local women artists as a fundraiser to help offset the huge funding cuts they are experiencing. The art is really amazing and the cause is so important. For a donation of $15 for 1 or $40 for 3 you can make a difference for thousands of women and children.

Thank you to the many artists who donated, to my friend and wonderful copywriter, Linda Fitzgerald, and to Kelly Parkinson and the Allegra Print and Imaging gang for making this calendar happen!

The calendars wold make wonderful holiday gifts. Please contact me if you are interested!

I have found a wonderful source for creating Giclee prints of my pastel paintings and am now offering a few of my favorite pieces for sale as reproductions. They have been purchased by quite a few health care organizations and other corporate entities to hang as art in their buildings. They are less expensive than purchasing original art and make wonderful gifts.

Wikipedia describes giclees as: Giclée (pronounced “zhee-clay”)  is an invented name for the process of making fine art prints from a digital source using ink-jet printing. The word “giclée” is derived from the French language word “le gicleur” meaning “nozzle”, or more specifically “gicler” meaning “to squirt, spurt, or spray”. It was coined in 1991 by, a printmaker working in the field, to represent any inkjet-based digital print used as fine art. The name was originally applied to fine art prints created on Iris printers in a process invented in the early 1990s but has since come to mean any high quality ink-jet print and is often used in galleries and print shops to denote such prints.

My Giclees are available in many subjects, sizes and formats and are ready to frame. Please take a look at my Giclee Gallery to see all of the prints that are now available.

Sample commission paintings of pet portraits

I have really fallen in love with painting pastel pet portraits. So, being the marketing freak that I am, I decided to create a printed card to advertise my services. The image above shows just a few of the very personal pieces I’ve painted in the last few months.

Pastel is a wonderful medium for this type of work. It is very soft and expressive, perfect for catching the special characteristics of dogs, cats, horses and other furry creatures. Each of these portraits are 8 x 10 inches but I am comfortable working larger or smaller depending on my client’s needs. I have been distributing the cards at pet stores, shows and grooming businesses and have gotten a wonderful response so far. If you know someone who would like to have a favorite pet or other animal made into art, please let me know!

Watercolor painting of a sculpture of wild horses running at the Lely Resort in Naples Florida

Watercolor painting 11 inches x 9 inches
$100

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While we were in Florida, John golfed at the Lely Resort Golf and Country Club. It was a beautiful place but my favorite part was a life size bronzes of running mustangs at the front entrance of the golf course. One morning, I sat on the grass and painted a quick watercolor painitng of a few of the statues. They were mounted on a huge pedestal of craggy rocks. It was almost like being back at the ranch in Montana—except the horses didn’t move!

Pastel Painting of pink flowers against a stucco wall.

Pastel painting of cascading red flowers and foilage.

For the last couple of years, I’ve entered pastel paintings into the Pastel Journal’s Pastel 100 Show Competition. And every year, they politely sent me my rejection slip. Until this year.

I recently received a letter stating that I had won honorable mentions for TWO of my floral paintings! Its a prestigious competition with entrants from all over the world, so I am quite excited. The two paintings I’ve posted today will be featured in the April issue of the Pastel Journal and are available through the River Gallery in Chelsea, Michigan.

Watercolor painting 6 inches x 9 inches $100 + shipping

Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.

I painted this plein air watercolor on the last day of our California visit. I was waiting on the Club balcony as John finished the 18th hole. Although this peaceful study doesn’t show it, I was actually going crazy inside. We had found out, just a couple hours earlier, that our only child was in labor for her first baby and we were stuck across the country with no way to get home in time! Just goes to show that all those art critics who claim to know what an artist is thinking when they paint a piece are full of it!

Right, Chris?

Today John, Roxy and I drove over to Douglas, Michigan (right next to Saugatuk) to drop off 5 paintings to my new representative, The Button Gallery. It was a long drive but well worth it. Arthur Frederick, the owner, greeted us and showed us the color ad they had placed in the newspaper. It displayed my Echinacea painting with a headline “Featuring the New Work of Artist Jill Wagner”. Very cool! I am so pleased to be part of this quality gallery. Before we left, Arthur took down the painting that was in the front window and replaced it with one of mine. Ohhhhhmmmmmmm…….

Watercolor painting 5 inches x 8 inches SOLD

Please contact me if you are interested in this artwork.

Another watercolor painting I did at the Toledo Botanical Gardens. This little cherub bravely guarded his little garden room. He was so sassy looking, I couldn’t help but stop and paint him!