JEN KELLER ART

Well, it's been little over a year since our move to Minnesota, and we have found ourselves on the road again. The journey has come full circle and we have landed in the Chicagoland area!  After growing up in the southwest suburbs and living in the Windy City of Chicago for almost 10 years, I am very excited to move back. It has taken a little while, but my studio is finally set up and this time around -- I'm sharing it with my little protege! What better way to get inspired to do children's art by sharing my creative space with my own kiddo's crafty corner. I am also happy to report I've been busily working on that Nursery/Children's Art line, finding inspiration everywhere.  I'm hoping to have a new shop on ETSY featuring my work and perhaps a few other venues - plus a NAME! It seems to be one of the most challenging parts of the process. One of my favorite pieces I've been able to do is for another new little baby who entere...

Hello friends! For the past few months I've been finding inspiration everywhere... including new babies! I have some special people in my life that have new little ones joining their families and I felt inspired to create artwork for them. Beautiful Mama Linda with Baby Finn, 3 months old.  I also decided to use this opportunity to expand my digital artwork.  I first used this style while working on cover art for the EXPLORE! series at Nomad Press. I really liked the modern graphic look of these pieces and I felt it would be perfect to start exploring a Children's/Nursery Art Line. Compared to the watercolor style I had been using in the past, this style is a little more commercial and also versatile.  Every piece starts with drawing and inking by hand, so it still has my personal touch and doesn't feel so generic. Next I convert the inked piece to a digital line and color the piece with a little more of a flat graphic color style. My first piece start...

Well it looks like the last of winter has left us and we are in for warmer and greener days ahead (fingers crossed!) Though its lucky for me that I got to spend the last few weeks of the Minnesota bitter cold back at my old stomping grounds in the Bay Area.  Soaking up sunshine, seeing friends, and cherishing special family time. For one of my recent projects I was lucky enough to be commissioned for a Save-the-Date and   Invitation combo for a dear friend of the family who was having a 70th Birthday Party during our visit to Northern California.  This woman is an inspiration to everyone she meets - a breast cancer survivor and currently kicking more cancer butt and consistently beating the odds.  Her philosophy? "I'm too damn busy to die!" I love it. Now this amazing lady had some very special requests.  She wanted three birds to represent herself, her husband and her son on the Save-the-Date.  She wanted something simple with a little bit of p...

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. Apologies to all of my adoring fans out there (hi mom and dad!)  I have been on a bit of a hiatus for the past six months or so. Taking some time out to figure out my next creative step and also that whole "being a mom" thing really takes up a lot of time! In the meantime, my last two books with Nomad Press have been published! Both Explore Natural Resources!   and The Roaring Twenties have come out and they look great. It was a whirlwind doing both of these books back to back on top of trying to be a mom, but thank goodness I had family and an amazing babysitter who helped me out as much as they could. Since then we've gone through a bit of a life change. In August of last year my husband got a job that moved us from Sunny California to Snowy Minnesota! Though it wasn't snowy in August... more Mosquitoey (if that's even a word).  It's been quite an adjustment trying to get back into ...

Wow! Again I can't believe so much time has gone by since my last post! I just finished working on my latest book for Nomad Press, The Roaring Twenties . Just like the decade - it was a whirlwind! This book was really interesting.  The Inquire and Investigate series is for older kids, so the subject matter can be a little more sophisticated in content. Not only does this book cover the surface information about the twenties including music, art and fashion, but it goes into women's issues, race issues, prohibition, etc.  It ends with the lead up to the depression and World War Two. I love that the author didn't sugar coat the era, but really covered the good and the bad, as any period of history has. As far as the work goes, since this book was more of a graphic novel/comic format my work was only done in black and white line. This was a challenge since I could only rely upon the line work and not value patterns for my compositions. The work - life bala...

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! I guess that's what happens when your cuddly baby turns into a walking, babbling, adventurous toddler! The Three R's  I am just turning in the last few illustrations for  Explore Natural Resources!  This book was a lot of fun. I love illustrating animals and this was a great opportunity to really develop a few characters that I enjoyed. Here are a few samples from the last chapters of the book. Conserving Natural Resources Exciting Energy Child labor using candlelight in mines Solar Farm I am also very happy to announce that I have been asked to illustrate another title in a different series with Nomad Press meant for young teens (ages 12-15) called Inquire and Investigate . This series is done in a graphic novel/comic book style and is about The Roaring Twenties.  This is one of my favorite periods dating back to my costume design days and I'm excited to be working on it! ...