Jenny’s Artist Bio
I grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the youngest of five children. My creative side was nurtured at an early age with dance lessons and older siblings who often led imaginative games for me and neighborhood friends. Drawing was a favorite pastime and those works of art were given as gifts for my parents, friends and teachers. As I drew clumps of plush, green turf among flowers, kitties, and whatever else floated my fancy, I remember thinking “wow, I draw really great grass.” I spent countless hours drawing those individual blades to beautify my compositions. That may sound odd, but its one of my first memories of drawing.
As I got older I continued to dabble in all things creative. I loved making gifts for people and this led me to beading and jewelry making. I was also always intrigued by the gorgeous stained glass windows at the Episcopal Church I attended with my family and hoped to one day learn that craft.
When I left the comfort of my parents’ home for college, I hadn’t yet realized that art was such an important part of my being. Silver-smithing and drawing found their way into my college studies, but I attended Radford University in VA with the sole purpose of becoming a special education teacher. I had a great desire to help people, and with my nephew being autistic, helping those with special needs seemed the path to follow. I graduated from Radford in 1996 and then moved to Salem, Oregon to begin teaching. I worked in a bilingual elementary school and though I adored the children and staff, I was turned off by the huge amounts of paper-work given to special education teachers. I used art as an outlet, taking my first stained-glass class. I LOVED working with glass. It reminded me of silver-smithing with all of the intricate work and soldering. I made small windows, jewelry and sun-catchers and was inspired by the natural beauty I found everywhere in Oregon. Meanwhile, at my little school, I used art any way that I could to encourage my special needs students to learn. Reading, math, and writing all seemed to improve when creativity was the focus.
After two years in Salem, I was ready to move to the big city. Portland, Oregon became my home in 1999. I taught special education for three more years then realized I needed to pursue a career with an art focus.
I began taking lessons in glass fusing and landed a summer job at a wonderful art camp for elementary age children. There was no glass studio at this camp, so with permission of the director, I bought all the necessary tools and began teaching children the art of fusing glass in a kiln. Working with those incredible children made me feel totally alive. For the first time in my career, I knew I was doing what I was meant to do; teach art.
Fortunately, Grace Institute, the non-profit organization that housed the camp offered me a year-round position. There I started an art class program for people of all ages, taught an after school arts academy for middle school youth and developed and directed a spring-break camp called “Arts for Peace.” My ten, incredible years of combined experience at Grace, along with my work as a public school teacher, has given me the ability to help students find their own creative styles. With my love of art, strong desire to inspire others and my hopes of bringing community together, I have opened my own studio.
Jennifer Wells Design is an art glass teaching studio located in the Alberta Arts District in North East Portland. This new studio allows me to create my own art pieces, and provides a dynamic teaching environment where other people acquire the basic and advanced skills needed to create their own works of glass art. In my studio, I am reminded of that little girl who found such satisfaction in drawing little, crooked blades of grass. My hope as an art teacher is to tap into the inherent creative drive that is within each and every one of us, to inspire and to be inspired.
