Jill Stewart

Bio and Artist Statement
Jill Stewart fell in love with her mother's bottle of ruby red nail polish.

The five-year-old didn't envision talons of vermilion, but recognized a vial of artistic expression waiting to be unleashed. She closed the bathroom door and began her masterpiece on her mother's carnation pink toilet, and thus found her life-long romance with art.

Jill has been painting ever since, trading in nail polish for watercolors and oils. Monet, Renoir and Degas inspired her, but it was Wayne Thiebaud's painting of a white rabbit that changed her life.
Further motivated, Jill received her B.A. in Art from CSU, Chico. Her primary medium is watercolors, but after studying with Susan Sarback, owner of the School of Light and Color, in Fair Oaks, she has rediscovered oils. Jill also studied with Sarback during a five-day painting workshop in Provence, France. Jill credits Sarback with challenging her to look beyond what colors she traditionally sees and to look at her subjects differently.

Jill has volunteered with the Children's Bereavement Art Therapy Group at Sutter Hospital and with the children's art program at the Crocker Art Museum.

The best part of art, Jill believes, is sharing it with someone else and seeing the joy others get from it, even if it's sharing a pink and ruby-red toilet seat with an encouraging, supportive mother.