31 Jul Drive Like a Landscape Painter

Wyoming landscape painter Jennifer Hoffman watches the light shift across the Jackson Hole Valley each day, waiting for moments that spark her imagination. She moved to the area nearly three decades ago to pursue her interest in landscape painting, and ever since, the region has generously offered its beauty as inspiration, shaping not only her art but also her identity. 

“My sense of self and my connection with the land is really central to my personality,” Hoffman says. “I’m grounded by making my art. And I think maybe that is reflected in my work because I do feel like my images tend to be more meditative, more quiet.”

Placid | GRAPHITE, WATERCOLOR, AND PASTEL ON PAPER | 9 X 8 INCHES

The artist’s work reflects her deep appreciation for the natural environment surrounding her home near Munger Mountain and the winding Snake River. Yellow balsamroot exploding through sagebrush in early spring, the sky appearing in slivers of still water in an irrigated hayfield, or a cloud billowing softly from the edge of a jagged peak — any one of these “little, simple moments” may bring the artist to pull over along the roadside and snap reference photos. 

“My kiddo says that I drive like a landscape painter, because when I’m driving, I’m constantly noticing things, and I’m just kind of wandering back and forth across the road, looking, getting sucked into the landscape,” says Hoffman, laughing. 

Shield Spring | PASTEL ON MOUNTED PAPER | 6 X 12 INCHES

In addition to landscapes, Hoffman also enjoys depicting birds, especially shorebirds and waterbirds. The artist allows herself to be flexible, 
using a variety of media, including pastel, oil paint, graphite, charcoal, and conté. She prefers to create work outdoors, observing and collecting information from her environment, especially when getting an idea down. However, she says her best work comes after she has absorbed the beauty around her and allowed it to settle. With distance from the subject, her reason for reacting to it becomes clearer, sometimes even months or years later. 

Riparian | PASTEL ON MOUNTED PAPER | 18 X 9 INCHES

“The longer that I paint, the more interested I get in the abstract side of things and the distilled essence of a scene, as opposed to all the little details and all the little accuracies,” Hoffman says. 
“I don’t want to be so much of a documentarian, maybe. And I enjoy things like how colors interact, some little touch of light, or an interesting combination of shapes. Things like that get me excited.”

Hoffman will also paint her favorite places in different seasons and atmospheres. “I have certain spots that I absolutely adore painting. They’re like friends, you know, like family members. I just keep coming back to them, and I’m never bored by them. I’m always seeing something different or new or at a different angle,” she says, adding, “I feel like something translates a little bit better when you’re painting, drawing, or otherwise depicting something that you love. … The pieces that people seem to connect with definitely are places that I know well.”

Infinity | PASTEL ON MOUNTED PAPER | 8 X 10 INCHES

Hoffman was born and raised in a Pennsylvania Dutch family in the small town of Ephrata, Pennsylvania, where her love of the outdoors was only exceeded by her fascination with art. She began drawing as soon as she could hold a pencil and spent a considerable amount of time depicting nature in the Appalachian Mountains of northern Pennsylvania while growing up.

In 1992, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in printmaking and painting from the University of Delaware, and a few years later, she moved to Jackson. “After art school, I came here wanting to paint landscapes, and that’s all I knew: I just wanted to paint landscapes,” Hoffman says. “And almost immediately, I started connecting with artists, who were all incredibly generous with their knowledge.”

Autumn Storm in Elk Park | PASTEL ON MOUNTED PAPER | 8 X 10 INCHES

This connection with other creative individuals has been an important part of Hoffman’s artistic journey. Over the years, mentors such as Scott Christensen, Hollis Williford, Ned Jacob, Greg McHuron, Kathy Wipfler,
and Skip Whitcomb, among many others, have shared knowledge and friendship. And she has found the art community in Jackson to be vibrant and supportive. “Another thing that excites me about being an artist here is how many like-minded people there are making art in the landscape,” Hoffman says. “And it’s so delightful to be able to talk for hours about materials and favorite places to paint and all of those kinds of things. … It’s contributed to a really fulfilling life. And it was really life-changing to see how open people are and how much they want other people to succeed.”

Until Only the Mountain Remains | PASTEL ON MOUNTED PAPER | 12 X 12 INCHES

One of Hoffman’s early mentors, Greg McHuron [1945–2012], was introduced to plein-air oil painting in the early 1970s by Wyoming landscape painter Conrad Schwiering 
[1916–1986]. Hoffman met McHuron while judging a junior duck stamp competition at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, eventually joining a weekly life-drawing group that he hosted. “[McHuron] took an interest in helping me become a better painter,” Hoffman says, adding that they became great friends and that he never missed a single exhibition of her work. “Honestly, I almost feel like he’s over my shoulder sometimes when I’m painting. One thing he said that probably has stuck with me more than anything else is that after I had had my kiddo, and I was struggling to keep painting, I told him, ‘I think I might have to get a full-time job.’ And he said, ‘It doesn’t matter. You do what you’ve got to do. You’ve got that fire in your belly. You’ll never stop painting.’ And I have never stopped painting, even through the tough times. So he was a really important part of me taking myself seriously and believing that I could actually be a real artist.”

Across the Darkening Valley | PASTEL ON MOUNTED PAPER | 24 X 24 INCHES

In June, Hoffman took part in Plein Air Fest, an event she’s participated in previously, where 50 invited artists create work outdoors each year. Hoffman says she looks forward to connecting with her artist friends and introducing onlookers to her process. “I usually work in pastel for that because I love them for plein air, and people see my pastel box and get so excited about all the colors, and they have tons of questions about the medium; people often think it’s chalk, and then I get to tell them about it a little bit. I love that part of it.”

A Sedge of Cranes | OIL ON MOUNTED LINEN | 20 X 20 INCHES

Since picking up and heading West, Hoffman’s artwork has been shown in many regional and national exhibitions, including those hosted by the Pastel Society of America, Oil Painters of America, and the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters, among others. She is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and a member of the Oil Painters of America and the American Impressionist Society. Her work is represented by Turner Fine Art in Jackson.

Capriccio | OIL ON PANEL | 24 X 24 INCHES

“A lot of people say, ‘I just paint for myself,’ and I definitely paint for myself, but I also want to share it with people. It is like a form of communication, and I love that. I love that you can share something that you really care about, without words, in a way that doesn’t really tell someone else how they should interpret it. … I’d love people to have whatever reaction they have when they come to my art, and I don’t want to control that, but I do hope that it makes them think about what a wonderful, beautiful world we live in and, you know, let’s not take it for granted.”

Wynterne | OIL ON CRADLED PANEL | 18 X 18 INCHES

If art is a kind of communication, Hoffman prefers it to be an open-ended conversation. And perhaps that’s what her work offers most — a space for beauty, for attention, for gratitude.

Writer Christine Rogel is the editor-in-chief of Western Art & Architecture and the copy editor for Big Sky Journal. Her first book, a collection of New Mexico ghost and folklore stories, is available from Rowman & Littlefield; christinerogel.com.