Becoming an artist really wasn’t the plan. Jennifer Anne Bennett was 18 and jumping off the cliffs in Hawaii when she saw a woman painting the landscape and flowers around them.

“I recall my amazement that this was something one could do on an afternoon on an island, just for the pleasure of it,” she says, setting it aside in her mind for at least a year until taking classes at Grossmont College in the early 1990s.

That’s when she took her first art class while working on a cross-cultural studies degree, later studying art at San Diego State University and earning her bachelor’s degree in 1998. After working in an art store, a gallery and as a security guard at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, she went to graduate school and got a teaching assistantship. Teaching also wasn’t something she’d previously considered, but it didn’t take long to find that she loved it.

“Teaching and making art are a perfect pairing, and a lifelong learner, I appreciate the opportunity to serve my students and the campus community,” she says, working as a professor of art at Grossmont College, where she’s been teaching since 2006. “After 25 years of teaching, I am excited to focus more on sharing my artwork with the larger San Diego community.”

Her abstract landscape paintings are currently on display, alongside works by Los Angeles-based artist Jeanne Dunn, in “Into the Woods: Resplendent” at the San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery through April 24. (Both artists will be part of an artist talk from 5 to 7 p.m. April 22 at the gallery.) Bennett has 28 pieces created between 2022 and earlier this year in this exhibition, ranging from smaller works on panels and larger works on canvas. An artist and educator, Bennett, 50, lives in San Diego’s Redwood Village neighborhood with her husband, artist John Brinton Hogan. She took some time to talk about her creative process, her relationship to nature, and some of her favorite local places to spend time outdoors.

Q: Can you talk a bit about your creative process for the works you created that people will see in this show? What were you thinking about as you went through concept to execution?

A: The works in this show were inspired by trips to Palm Springs and Mt. San Jacinto, Anza Borrego Desert and Indiana. My creative process is to recall how I felt in these places, the feelings and emotions I experienced there, the colors, temperatures and quality of light. Finally, if I work from images I took of the places, I work from poor-quality images so that I cannot get too precious or specific about details in the photographs.

I try not to think about it too much or I just won’t get to the painting part. Getting started is tough enough, so I mainly think about setting myself up for success to find time to get into the studio. Since I work full time, I need to carve out studio time over school breaks, on holidays and on the weekends.

Q: What did you want to say about nature and the idea of its splendor through the pieces you’ve chosen to include in this exhibition?

A: Painting these special places allows me to revisit and reimagine my time there. I can reconnect to my past visit and share that with the viewer while working in the studio, like visiting an old friend, but discovering something new as the conversation takes a surprising path as the artworks unfold with color and mark-making. The abstract landscapes invite the viewer to enter their world of light and space while the organic contour lines sing like notes across sheet music.

What I love about San Diego’s Redwood Village …

I love that Redwood Village and Rolando Park Community Councils collaborate on community cleanups. We also host our monthly meetings together. Go team! 

Q: You were born in Hawaii and grew up in Lemon Grove? How would you describe your own relationship to nature? What you recall of your introduction to it, the impact it’s had on you in your life, when/how/in what ways it began to show up in and influence your artwork?

A: Growing up in the ‘70s, nature was the playground. We ran wild in the canyons, built things, drew in the dirt, made designs with rocks, costumes out of seaweed. I love the ocean, the pulse of the water and the sparkle of the sand. I think it found its way into my work without me giving it much thought.

Q: You’ve said that you “want to create a nurturing visual space where we can enter, explore, daydream, rendezvous with a lover or friend, enjoy music, or encounter the unexpected.” Why is it important to you to create that kind of nurturing quality in your work?

A: Perhaps that is why I turn to art, to find a sense of place that can bring one a moment of peace and beauty in a world where there is so much pain and anxiety. Moments in the safe space that is the world of this exhibition at the Mesa College gallery should come as valued and supported by those who visit.

Q: In the time that you’ve been teaching art, are there lessons or new perspectives that your students have taught you over the years?

A: I learn so much from my students! I love teaching, and I’ve learned that everyone learns differently. Never assume; repeat, ask them questions, be patient and laugh. I need to remember to apply those to my life and work!

Q: What inspires you in your artwork, in the creative process?

A: The quieting of the mind, getting in the zone, the meditative quality of making artwork.

Q: Do you have favorite local spots that you like to visit when you want to be in nature?

A: Anza Borrego Desert, Mission Trails Park, Coronado Beach, Chollas Lake. I am drawn to native plants and wildlife, as well as other local residents.

Q: What’s been challenging about your work as an artist?

A: Making time to get into the studio.

Q: What’s been rewarding about this work?

A: Bringing people joy when they see the work in person.

Q: What has this work taught you about yourself?

A: It has taught me that I like to work both large and small, and I want to work even larger!

Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

A: To focus on what you can control.

Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?

A: I did not do art as a child.

Q: Please describe your ideal San Diego weekend.

A: Mat pilates in the park, go for a green juice, walk or hike, then out for some pho. The next day, work in the garden with my husband, play with our cats, read and paint. I’m a homebody!

Originally Published: March 29, 2025 at 6:00 AM PDT