Artist Statement
Ever since I can remember, I have been filled with a great love for frogs and toads. Everything about them, from their bright eyes and wide grins to their powerful leaps and graceful strokes, amazes me. I try to capture the beauty I see in frogs in my artwork, and to express the love and joy I feel for them with those who see my pieces. More importantly, I hope to contribute to amphibian conservation efforts worldwide, and make a real difference in the lives of the thousands of frog species currently threatened with extinction. Frogs need us, and I believe we need them too.
While I have always enjoyed creating frog artwork, it became a true passion for me when I discovered SAVE THE FROGS!, an amphibian conservation organization, and the enormous threats that frog species face. Ever since, I have used my artwork as activism, including informative fact cards about species I depict and donating 10% of my sales to SAVE THE FROGS! I use a variety of mediums, including acrylic paintings, watercolors, sculpture, digital illustrations, and animation. My pieces tend to draw heavily from real life, both because I love animals as they truly appear and so that each species is distinctly recognizable. That said, I make my pieces lively by enhancing colors and giving all of my subjects a smile. Though frogs may be suffering dramatically in the world we live in, I want to live in a world where I can find them smiling everywhere. I work to help create that world in my art, and in real life.
Biography
Born in Memphis, TN, Jessie Robertson moved with her family to Wilmington in 2010. Since 2017, Jessie’s award-winning art has displayed in several group and solo art exhibits, including shows at Wilma Daniels Gallery, ACES Gallery, 216 N. Front Street, the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher, and Art in Bloom Gallery. In 2019, Jessie graduated from Wilmington Early College High School as valedictorian and from Cape Fear Community College (CFCC). Today, she is majoring in both Studio Art and Digital Arts at UNCW and working as a part-time employee at Art in Bloom Gallery, where she edits their artist films. Jessie hopes that the more she learns and creates, the more successful she will be in achieving her goal of saving the frogs.
More of Jessie’s work can be found at: https://jessielrobertson.wixsite.com/portfolio
