Today we’d like to introduce you to Jen Oldis-Kryczka.
Jen, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
As a child I was fascinated with drawing and observing people. I pursued art in every way I could while growing up and attended my first life drawing class at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis while in middle school.
After receiving my AAS in Graphic Design and Illustration from the American Academy of Art in Chicago, I lived and worked in NYC as a graphic designer, exploring the vibrant city, frequenting museums and during that time, walking almost the entire island of Manhattan. It was an amazing experience that continues to color my perceptions today.
I then returned to Chicago and earned my BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago and have lived and worked here ever since, as a graphic designer, illustrator and art director, all the while pursuing my personal work and exhibiting nationally as well.
After the birth of our daughter, I freelanced commercially and focused on my portrait work, receiving commissions and having the honor of exhibiting as a finalist in the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery, and continuing to exhibit in other national juried shows. Having a young person around naturally lead to teaching and I have been teaching art to all ages for about 10 years now, through various venues, including the Riverside Arts Center, in Riverside, IL, and the Westchester Park District where I am currently working on a large outdoor mural for the pool.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am still intrigued by people and my portrait work has always been a passion of mine. I strive to not only capture a person’s exterior likeness but portray a story about their lives in the pose, color, and mood of the painting, as well as expose a degree of their interior essence and inner life. I am currently working on a life-sized portrait of Harriet Tubman, and the more I learn about her life and imagine the everyday reality of what she endured and accomplished, I am increasingly humbled and inspired to share her with the world in a new way.
I am also a big lover of plein air painting and enjoy being in nature and painting whenever I can. I work primarily in watercolor on location but have been experimenting with ink and acrylic in a more abstract approach and am very excited about the direction this is taking me, producing some very satisfying work. Making the leap into abstraction has been a challenge for me, and it’s taken me a few years to finally feel l have had some success in this new language.
The sterotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
Be conscious about choices. How we spend our time, especially our free time is a difficult balance especially with family and other obligations. Being realistic about how much time we can dedicate to our art and following through on a plan is essential to feeling fulfilled. Staying flexible, on the other hand, can be vital to keep working on your craft.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
The mural I am working on can be seen after June 2 at the Westchester Community Pool in Westchester, IL, just west of Chicago. You can also see my commercial work and some of my fine art on my website, www.Saltcreekdesign.com.
My publishing design, illustration, and art direction can be found on Behance. https://www.behance.net/SaltCreekDesign
My new abstract work can be seen on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/jenkryczka
I also have a Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/Salt-Creek-Design-533010133463810/
Contact Info:
- Website: www.SaltCreekDesign.com
- Phone: 708-860-2876
- Email: jenkryczka@comcast.net
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jenkryczka
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Salt-Creek-Design-533010133463810/
- Other: https://www.behance.net/SaltCreekDesign
Image Credit:
All photos were taken by me.
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