Description: This exhibit is a celebration of Summer and its simple pleasures. Ms. Combs captures the magic of an ordinary afternoon through her colorful imagery.

Exhibit Dates: August, 5 – 31
Artist’s reception: Gallery Walk, First Friday, August 6, 5:00 – 8:00 PM
With special reception music by: Brandi Haile

About the Exhibit:
Jamie Combs is primarily a painter; sometimes working from nature, sometimes from her imagination, sometimes a combination of the two. Her paintings have a loose, painterly realism but also an otherworldliness where the believable and the unlikely coexist. She uses color intuitively to underscore emotion and psychology. Her style of painting leaves traces of construction that become part of the image.

For as long as Jamie can remember, she has been in love with making things. Although she finds creativity to be fun and engrossing, she finds it to be much more as well. She has been especially fascinated by small things—seemingly inconsequential, except that they are what make up a life. Growing up in a Midwestern suburb, Jamie has warm associations with gas stations and Laundromats. For less than a dollar anybody can go in and buy a candy bar or a grape soda and five minutes of happiness in the middle of an otherwise ordinary day.

This exhibit of colorful summer time images is a celebration of those moments that “make up a life” and Jamie captures the magic of an ordinary afternoon through her powers of observation and her skillful hands.

About the Artist:
Jamie moved from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Bloomington in 2003 to pursue an MFA in painting. She earned her BFA at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids. Since graduate school she has been an instructor of painting, drawing and foundations at the Herron School of Art and Design. She has also taught courses in drawing at Depauw University and Ivy Tech Community College. Currently she is writing and illustrating a revised edition of the book, “Drawing for Dummies.” Jamie is a big fan of watching people play.

Attached Images:
Swimmers – oil painting by Jamie Combs
Towels – oil painting by Jamie Combs
Us – oil painting by Jamie Combs

Participating artists: Jamie Combs