MEET OT ARTIST JEAN EVERSON

By JoAnn Frekot and CZ Stokes

Untitled, Watercolor, Jean Everson

Jean Everson has been engaged in art her entire life.  She took an interesting path to becoming a professional portrait photographer, then transitioned to painting in oil and now in watercolor.  Recently, she talked about her artistic journey.

Jean grew up in South Saint Paul and was first encouraged to draw at a young age by her artistically talented older sister, Mary.  From that point on, Jean continued to practice art including at the University of Minnesota.

While working at McMillans, she met a co-worker's husband who had a business retouching photographic negatives.  Intrigued, Jean began to learn from him how to re-touch portraits - mainly photographs of high school seniors.  Soon, Jean began her own photo-retouching business.  This gave her flexibility while raising her two daughters with husband Bob.

Untitled, Oil, Jean Everson

She stayed competitive in this new field by attending photography seminars and conferences.  As her daughters grew, she started thinking about opening a photography studio.  Now living in Woodbury, she had easy access to a park with lovely green space for senior portraits.  Taking a calculated risk, Jean opened her business in 1988 and soon had a steady stream of photography work.  Her studio grew to include weddings and family portraits, in addition to high school senior pictures.  

Life Drawing, Watercolor, Jean Everson

During this time, Jean continued to learn from other photographers and teaching artists.  At a class in Scottsdale, Arizona, an instructor advised her to attend live drawing sessions.  With this encouragement, Jean began attending Life Drawing sessions with Old Town Artists.  She admired the work of Nels Femrite who was a member of Old Town Artists at the time.  Jean said, "Nels did wonderful watercolors of the models."

"Confluence," Oil, Jean Everson

Untitled, Watercolor, Jean Everson

Jean joined Old Town Artists and began taking painting classes.  She studied with Richard Abraham, Greg Lipelt, and OT Artist Derek Davis.  After working with oil paints for awhile, she found the solvents gave her headaches.  She was inspired to try watercolors, and came across the work of German artist Elke Memmler.  Jean describes Elke's flower paintings as "sophisticated and gorgeous."

 Jean's most recent works are in watercolor.  She wants to explore the medium with a variety of subjects, but you will still find her attending one of our Life Drawing sessions now and then.