"No rules, no reasons. Red house, green door, yellow windows, bucket of mangoes, white chicken, blue water... it's color as a celebration of everyday life. Color is the perpetual motion of my paintings."

A native of Los Angeles, Jennifer Markes studied painting in New Hampshire with John Hatch and received her BFA Cum Laude from the University of New Hampshire. Truly a citizen of the world, she has traveled extensively and her work has been exhibited throughout the United States, England, France, Haiti, French Polynesia, and Japan.

Markes has a unique ability to project her personality into each painting while beckoning the viewer to share her joy in nature and simplicity. The subjects are accessible and they have an innate power which draws strength from the artist's ability to express what it is to be human and alive.

Her palette is vibrant and inviting, her subject... Life. "I'm very sensitive to color. I definitely consider this a gift as it wasn't something I learned to do. It has a lot to do with not fearing the strength that color can be if you let it come out uninhibited or uncalculated."

Jennifer Markes finds her greatest influence in the works of native and primitve artists of the Caribbean. "With no education or training, the art of these people comes straight from the creative source. Unpretentious, freely associated, so their canvases are raw to me, unlearned. Very honest, most simple, innocent."

As for success, "I've always known all along that I wanted to be an artist. This has always been the dream. When somebody says to me, 'Wow! When I look at your paintings, that's where I want to be, the way I want to feel,' then I've succeeded. That is what it's all about. This is success as an artist."