Hollack, Jennifer
I love a challenge to create something no one has ever seen before. - Jennifer Hollack

Artist Hollack received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture from the University of Arizona in 1991. She grew up in Houston, Texas and Los Altos, California amidst lush landscapes, abundant with fruit trees, berries and what she recalls as: "the earth and all its treasures." This innate affinity for nature is reflected in the color and details of her work. "I love the sun," Hollack explains, "I can't stand cold weather, so I tend to paint with warm colors that are bright and golden." Her love affair with rich and exotic places began on the sun-drenched Greek Island of Paros where, in her student days, she spent her summers studying architecture and fine art at the Aegean Center for the Arts on Paros. She would spend her days barefoot down by the sea painting people and boats, and at night would eat fish and dance with the old men and women of the village. This infatuation with far-away places continues today and she finds that the expansiveness of travel and the exposure to the history of a people and their culture enriches her work with exciting new ideas and expressions of color, texture, pattern and form.

Hollack credits her fellow artists for inspiration when she says: "They daily push me to re-invent myself." But beyond all else, her mother's boundless energy and creativity had the strongest effect on her life. "Every holiday our house was covered with handmade decorations reflecting her spirit. Birthday parties always had a theme and decorations, and we would enter parades with floats built around our bicycles. You name it, mom could design it, build it, and basically create it. I have never known the limits of what can be accomplished."

Hollack loves to garden. She likes to take a problem and fix it, to remodel houses and build things with her hands. When she is not creating something new or reinventing the old, she enjoys spending time with her two daughters.

All my life, I've been taught to do my best," Hollack explains. "When I was in Venice, I saw the most beautiful piece of glass art. I took all of my spending money and invested it on that art vase. It was my big splurge. Today, when I paint a piece of art, I think to myself - this is someone's big splurge. With that in mind, I try to create something that is beyond my expectations. I want it to be the best piece that I can paint."