By Remy Li
Art is freedom. Being able to bend things most people see as a straight line. Jenna Beattie is a staff member of Collingwood. However, aside from working with the school, she is also an abstract artist who’s not afraid to take risks and make mistakes while creating art. During her early life, this artist was born and raised in Howe Sound, and later she grew up in Lions Bay attending schools in West Vancouver. In her free time, Jenna loves to spend time outdoors, whether hiking, exploring the backcountry in Britannia Beach and Squamish with her dogs, or spending time on the water on her boat. Jenna considers art as a fun way for her to get away from the everyday stresses of life. Her advice for other artists would be to explore. “Never be afraid to take the risk of trying any mediums or make mistakes because you can learn so much more by trying new things."
Art is freedom. Being able to bend things most people see as a straight line. Jenna Beattie is a staff member of Collingwood. However, aside from working with the school, she is also an abstract artist who’s not afraid to take risks and make mistakes while creating art. During her early life, this artist was born and raised in Howe Sound, and later she grew up in Lions Bay attending schools in West Vancouver. In her free time, Jenna loves to spend time outdoors, whether hiking, exploring the backcountry in Britannia Beach and Squamish with her dogs, or spending time on the water on her boat. Jenna considers art as a fun way for her to get away from the everyday stresses of life. Her advice for other artists would be to explore. “Never be afraid to take the risk of trying any mediums or make mistakes because you can learn so much more by trying new things."
Jenna's artworks are influenced by many things since she spends a lot of time outdoors, her biggest inspiration comes from the mountains or the ocean. Her go-to favourite medium to use is acrylic paint. However, she’s been exploring with epoxy resin and inks on wood panels, canvases and china. This artist has also incorporated more 3D texture into her pieces and a lot of semi-translucent gold which brings an elegant element. She loves that the brightness of the gold changes as you move around the room and look at the artwork from different angles. Sometimes it is almost opaque while from another perspective it is barely a hint on the canvas. Most of Jenna’s work leans towards abstract because she loves that there is no “wrong” to it. Working this way gives her the freedom to create whatever she wants with no pressure for anything to look a certain way. She also loves to imagine land or seascapes and build them in different colours and lots of texture.
Jenna has not exhibited her work but has donated pieces to local charities for silent auction fundraisers. She has recently incorporated art much more into her daily life, and as a goal for herself in the future, Jenna wants to keep up her work and create something every day with different techniques and mediums.
