Jenni Robson

Growing up in a beautiful Oxfordshire village full of nature and woodland adventures and attending an art biased primary school set the foundation for my life ahead. Always sketching and painting I was given my first paid commission as a young teenager; decorating the walls of a swimming pool with dolphins (empty, of course). I later moved to Leicester where I completed a BA Hons degree in 3D design.

My career began in the exciting world of theatre, display and theme parks: painting scenery, costume design, model making, sculpting and animation, building imaginary worlds. I returned to college to retrain before a long career in graphics. I now live in Market Harborough, a fabulous and supportive community, where I have a tiny studio at home that allows me to paint, print, make and write.

Originally, I worked with watercolour and ink, painting quirky characters in humorous situations. The goal to promote friendship, printed onto greetings cards, stationery and textiles. This was followed by a children’s rhyming picture book giving me fabulous opportunities to read and run art workshops in schools and libraries.

My painting is quite controlled and with small brushes, I realised I needed to be pushed out of my comfort zone and loosen that control. Just over a year ago I joined Leicester Print Workshop searching for a new way to create; I experimented with different print methods and fell in love with linocut printing. The uncertainty of this method of print was exciting, not knowing what the results of laying colour on colour, not to mention destroying the art on the lino, and unlike graphics the destruction could not be ‘undone’. This has sparked a new passion, and I love the surprise each time I lift the paper up from the linocut and see how the colour and form develop. The subject matter of wildlife, trees and nature continues, and I was thrilled to have two of my prints selected for the 2025 Leicester Open Exhibition.

British flora and fauna, pets and whimsical characters along with a fascination for organic pattern and vibrant colours continues to develop and capture my imagination along with my favourite artist: a forward thinking William Morris. Nothing makes me happier that being surrounded by an inky mess, paper and paints or sketching the next idea for a picture. It is a form of meditation when I am solely focused on the art. I forget about the world around me and sit in my happy place.

Joining NROS is an exciting new step on my artistic journey and can’t wait to see where it takes me.