About Jessica Fairley
Biography
Having been raised on the rugged Monterey Peninsula in California, it instilled in me a great love of the natural world and a compelling need to record the beauty of the California landscape. After graduating from high school, I relocated to San Francisco and enrolled in San Francisco State University to study painting. I graduated from the university in 2001, earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree with an emphasis in painting.
My love of the natural world provides me with an endless amount of inspiration for my artwork. Almost everywhere I look, I see a painting. I find great joy in the process of painting, sometimes leaving thick areas of paint in certain places on the canvas which creates texture in my work. I mostly paint in oil paint, in my studio in Southern California. "Every painting is evoked by a memory or a place that has touched my heart. I love how the viewer then looks at my artwork and it evokes a feeling in them of a time or place. This is a shared connection that I enjoy very much."
In 2004, I moved to Southern California to enjoy the sunshine and the beaches of this beautiful region. Since 2005, I have been working at the breathtaking Getty Villa Museum in Malibu, where I am a museum operations manager. This has allowed me to be in daily contact with some of the most impressive artwork ever created. Being able to peruse the galleries daily and appreciate the great works of art on a closeup and personal level has made my own work richer and more varied. Being able to contribute to arts awareness and arts education through my work at the Getty has enriched my life greatly. I am drawn to painting the California landscape, especially the ocean, swimming pool culture, and all things involving water. Next to light, water is the most beloved subject of mine to paint. I love that light is not that by which we see, but rather, that by which we see everything else. And the flow of water is both meditative and hypnotic in its form, or lack thereof. I love the way that water is both representational and abstract in its form.
I have been featured in multiple publications, including in the September 2018 issue of Victoria magazine, where my artwork was featured in their "Favorite Things" column. I have been a member of the Malibu Art Association since 2021. I have been selling my artwork online for several years, being collected in private collections throughout the United States and Europe.
My love of the natural world provides me with an endless amount of inspiration for my artwork. Almost everywhere I look, I see a painting. I find great joy in the process of painting, sometimes leaving thick areas of paint in certain places on the canvas which creates texture in my work. I mostly paint in oil paint, in my studio in Southern California. "Every painting is evoked by a memory or a place that has touched my heart. I love how the viewer then looks at my artwork and it evokes a feeling in them of a time or place. This is a shared connection that I enjoy very much."
In 2004, I moved to Southern California to enjoy the sunshine and the beaches of this beautiful region. Since 2005, I have been working at the breathtaking Getty Villa Museum in Malibu, where I am a museum operations manager. This has allowed me to be in daily contact with some of the most impressive artwork ever created. Being able to peruse the galleries daily and appreciate the great works of art on a closeup and personal level has made my own work richer and more varied. Being able to contribute to arts awareness and arts education through my work at the Getty has enriched my life greatly. I am drawn to painting the California landscape, especially the ocean, swimming pool culture, and all things involving water. Next to light, water is the most beloved subject of mine to paint. I love that light is not that by which we see, but rather, that by which we see everything else. And the flow of water is both meditative and hypnotic in its form, or lack thereof. I love the way that water is both representational and abstract in its form.
I have been featured in multiple publications, including in the September 2018 issue of Victoria magazine, where my artwork was featured in their "Favorite Things" column. I have been a member of the Malibu Art Association since 2021. I have been selling my artwork online for several years, being collected in private collections throughout the United States and Europe.
