Jolee Klugherz

Jolee R. Klugherz is a visual artist based in suburban Chicago, IL. A lifelong lover of creating art, Jolee credits her earliest inspiration to her grandfather, a painter, who allowed her to join him in the studio at the Art Students League in New York City as a child. While growing up outside of Philadelphia, PA, Jolee spent much of her time with a pencil or paint brush in her hands. She developed an appreciation for many different media, and a love for realism and detail.

Jolee’s artistic focus has always been creating from observation, both from still life and the natural world around her. After high school she attended Cornell University to pursue a degree in Psychology. While in college she continued to develop her art skills by taking as many drawing classes as her schedule allowed. After graduation she spent several years working outside of the art realm, but missed being creative and returned to school to pursue a Master’s Degree in Art Education.  Jolee spent the next two decades raising her two daughters and teaching art to children and adults in media ranging from pottery to drawing, hoping to impart her love of art and the importance of observation to all of her students.

Jolee continues to draw, paint, and create mixed media pieces depicting the botanic subjects that inspire her. Her mixed media artwork is a more interpretive and expressive evolution of her highly detailed drawings and paintings. In these pieces, she starts with a drawing from observation but then focuses on the overall colors and shapes that define her subject matter, rather than the minute details that are often the focus of her other works. An integral part of her mixed media process is the painting of the papers with which she assembles her final pieces. By painting her own papers she has complete control of the color palette, and the process of doing so allows her to enjoy the freedom of layering and applying the paint itself without the boundaries of shapes. The marks and textures of the paint application are then incorporated into her work as part of the overall composition. She often concurrently interprets a particular subject in both oils as well as collage, enjoying how the different media influence her approach and interpretation of that subject.

Jolee, her husband Seth, and their two daughters love to travel and appreciate art and scenery around the country and the world. Their particular love for the desert southwest often emerges in her work. She appreciates that her family supports her artistic endeavors and that they all tolerate, and even encourage, her frequent stops to explore potential subject matter during their travels.

Email: jrkfineart@gmail.com
Website: www.jrkfineart.com
Instagram: jrkfineart