Jen Collee

Jen gained her BA (Hons) in Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art in 1999 and has also gained an honours degree in science.

Jen is a keen horsewoman and her passion and knowledge is evident in her work. Her paintings, of animals and horses in particular, are both dynamic and sympathetic, reflecting the presence and character of the subject with an understanding eye and deft technical skill.

The large scale animal paintings came about after a commission of a 7' Friesian cow for the Television presenter Gabby Logan; this large scale work has since lead to tremendous success. She currently works from her Edinburgh studio and has exhibited at the Scottish National Gallery, Visual Art Scotland and the Scottish Society of Artists show alongside the Glasgow Art Fair, the Edinburgh Festival and Art London. Her work hangs in many public and private collections worldwide.

"I often think of painting as a battle or the traces left after a dance, explosive marks can only be produced by explosive gestures so I need to wait until mind and body are ready before I launch in. Hair or hooves or detail are of no interest to me only the emotion, the energy, and the unexpected success of a chaotic grouping of painterly gestures that can be read as space, solidity or movement. Why these marks work I do not always know but it is the element of surprise and discovery that hooks me. The success of a painting depends as much on what is left out as what is there, it is that tension between contrasting elements that work together to give vitality to a work."