Jennie Kirkpatrick showcases "A Few Of My Favorite Things" in Still Life paintings as In-Town Gallery featured artist throughout March. She will bring together various treasured objects with floral arrangements in acrylic on canvas paintings. Visitors can meet the artist at the First Friday opening reception March 5, 2015, 5 - 8 PM.

Still Life paintings present a puzzle for the viewer. Why did the artist choose these objects, sentimental favorites? Color? Shapes? And why put these things together? Most often the answer is a combination of reasons. Memories evoked by keepsakes kept from inherited things, treasure or not, bring fond memories and often have a story to tell. The love of flowers and gardening comes from a Paternal Grandmother well-known for her gardens and generosity with flowers and vegetables when visitors came calling. "Having spent hours in both her garden and my Mother's makes me want to show the implements that reveal the labor involved and its rewards. Each season of the growing calendar brings forth in my own yard some of the same colorful and fragrant flowers so familiar to my childhood. Picking grandmother, Lucy's, colorful pansies was a job I took very seriously as a child and, in adulthood, would not miss a fall planting. Pansies even show up sometimes in my salads. In late spring peonies bloom profusely with elegance and dignity. Their full and heavy blooms overwhelm the delicate stems which bend gracefully under their weight. These flowers and others are paired with objects to create a moment in time or a complete story for the personal interpretation of the viewer", says Jennie. A series of coffee cups on smaller square canvases sometimes evoke travel and photos captured in exotic locales such as "Turkish Coffee" and various espresso cups.

Having graduated from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a BFA Degree in Painting Kirkpatrick taught in public school for a number of years. Later after living and traveling in various states and Japan (2 years) and Tunisia (3 years) with her two children and Naval officer husband Jennie and family returned to her home state of Tennessee. During the years of frequent moves she was able to earn a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking at George Washington University in Washington, D. C. and an Associate of Arts in Illustration at North Virginia Community College. The patterns and colors of the Japanese fabrics and woodblock prints as well as the patterns prevalent in the Islamic culture of Tunisia continue to influence her work. After returning to Tennessee she became adjunct Art Professor at Cleveland State, UTC, Tennessee Wesleyan College and Lee University at various times.

For a number of years Jennie had a a business in Cleveland, TN doing murals and wall finishes. Her paintings are in various collections, primarily residential, in the US and abroad. Currently examples of her still life paintings are on display at Customs House Museum, Clarksville, TN in "Right Before My Eyes: A Still Life Invitational" .