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| C. P. Huntington with Jennifer's Engine |
Jennifer Anderson has a
unique beginning to her career as an artist. She is a native of Huntington, WV
but moved to South Florida to begin art school in 1986. As life introduces us
to unexpected opportunities, Jennifer crossed paths with a NYC interior
designer at Gulfsteam Racetrack in Hollywood, Florida where Jennifer was selling her original hand
painted t shirt designs. The interior designer introduced her to the owner of a
textile art business in Davie, Florida. This began her shift from working in
classic art mediums on paper to using a variety of mediums on fabrics and on
walls.
As a textile artist at
Starshine Studios, Jennifer painted on hundreds of yards of silks, cottons, and
other fabrics that were that were made into upholstery and draperies for
clients all over the United States and overseas. She also learned the art of
faux finishes.
Jennifer moved back to
Huntington in 1995 and shortly after began painting murals and faux finishes on
walls of numerous residences and businesses in the tri state area and beyond
including New York City.
She never lost the love of
working with traditional watercolors and acrylics on papers. She has won
several awards for her work in watercolors over the years. Watercolor is her
first love.
The Artisan's Express
project was a dream for Jennifer. It would give her the chance to find local
artists that had never been recognized on a national level for their talents
and allow them to have the opportunity to show the nation their works and “why”
they create art in so many different mediums. Reading the artist bios and
hearing their personal stories has been Jennifer's favorite part about the
project.
The second goal Jennifer
had when the project began was to educate the children in Huntington about the rich
history of the railroad in Huntington. Each QR code on the trains displayed not
only give the artist of each train engine a voice about their art, but they
give short history lessons about why we are called Huntington. The railroad was
very important in establishing us as a city. We became an important
transportation hub as we filled in the gap between the James River in Richmond,
VA to the Ohio Valley. The area is named after the railroad builder, Collis
Potter Huntington.
You cannot find too many
folks in this Huntington area that do not have some sort of railroad connection
either recent or from past generations. Her Huntington Railroad train engine even
has a connection as her husband's grandparents both worked for the C&O
railroad and that is how they met. The antique metal on her sculptures base
came from their first home in Huntington.
The Train Engines
Jennifer designed two train engines for this project. The first one modeled after the #10 engine that resides at her hometown's Heritage Station. She felt compelled to create an ode to the railroad birth in Huntington. It includes a portrait of Mr. Huntington and a look at the original survey map used to connect the railroads in the area.
Jennifer has a second passion besides art, kids fitness and nutrition. She devotes and volunteers countless hours at her daughter's elementary school implementing numerous health programs such as Fuel Up to Play 60 to encourage, motivate, and educate young students to lead the way in fighting child hood obesity. She believes if the students learn these healthy habits at a young age, they will take what they learn home to their families and encourage them to make changes to live a healthy lifestyle.
When artists were submitting their designs, Jennifer noticed a hole in the wide variety of renderings. There was no design depicting the Healthy Revolution that Jamie Oliver began in 2010 which since his visit spawned numerous 5k and running events, healthier restaurant choices, and a better accountability awareness for citizens in Huntington. Jennifer felt that a Healthy Huntington train engine was needed to honor so many positive changes that have been since 2010.
The Train Engines
Jennifer designed two train engines for this project. The first one modeled after the #10 engine that resides at her hometown's Heritage Station. She felt compelled to create an ode to the railroad birth in Huntington. It includes a portrait of Mr. Huntington and a look at the original survey map used to connect the railroads in the area.
Jennifer has a second passion besides art, kids fitness and nutrition. She devotes and volunteers countless hours at her daughter's elementary school implementing numerous health programs such as Fuel Up to Play 60 to encourage, motivate, and educate young students to lead the way in fighting child hood obesity. She believes if the students learn these healthy habits at a young age, they will take what they learn home to their families and encourage them to make changes to live a healthy lifestyle.
When artists were submitting their designs, Jennifer noticed a hole in the wide variety of renderings. There was no design depicting the Healthy Revolution that Jamie Oliver began in 2010 which since his visit spawned numerous 5k and running events, healthier restaurant choices, and a better accountability awareness for citizens in Huntington. Jennifer felt that a Healthy Huntington train engine was needed to honor so many positive changes that have been since 2010.
Jennifer hopes that the
project inspires young artists to dream big and keep creating! Jennifer continues to paint murals and faux finishes and can be found on Facebook: Jake and
Jules Whimsical Kreations
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