Jill Andre says, “I’m a voyeur, I watch everything". And as a skilled artist, she’s able to quickly capture in her drawings the people she observes, creating a relationship of sorts. From her thousands of sketches, Jill then selects an image and begins to cultivate a deeper relationship by way of her brush and palette. Jill mixes colors till what she sees represents how she feels about the image, and then she marks the canvas. Each brushstroke made is in response to her last. During the painting process, her figures can become obscured and less important, as Andre courageously exposes her vulnerabilities.
Growing up in the Bay Area, Jill knew once college-bound she would pursue a Fine Arts degree in sunny southern California. She enrolled and excelled in the very competitive design program at Cal State Long Beach. Jill spent 12-weeks in southern France at the Leo Marchutz School, where she absorbed the techniques mastered by four generations of artists, sharpening her own skills and visual perceptions of the world around her.
As a young professional, Jill first worked in the automotive industry, designing after-market products and then as a designer for children’s educational software. As a result of the dot com crash and economic downturn in 2000, Jill was laid off. Once the shock wore off, she saw it as an opportunity to pursue her own drawing and painting and tossed away her portfolio of commercial art. Jill joined the Drawing Circus, satisfying her drive and passion to create.
Jill began showing her work in group exhibits at the encouragement of the Drawing Circus’ founder, Edward Stanton. Juried exhibitions and solo exhibits soon followed. After a solo exhibit at Art21 in Palo Alto, the gallery owner invited Jill to accompany her to China to participate in an exhibition at the Chaoyang Cultural Museum in Beijing. As a result of the October 2005 invitational exhibit, Andre’s Cha Cha Cha now resides permanently in the museum’s collection.
From 2009-20012 Jill was an active board member of the Silicon Valley’s chapter of National Women’s Caucus for the Arts, as well as Creative Director in 2012 for the ‘Honoring Women’s Rights’ exhibit. In 2018-2019 Jill worked regularly on the television production crew at the Midpen Media Center in Palo Alto, and was also a creative collaborator on several special projects.
Jill has taught and continues to teach art in both private and group settings. Her approach is to keep it simple and design an environment where each student can successfully create.
During Artspan’s 2021 San Francisco Open Studios, a Meet-Up group interested in art visited Jill in her studio.
Bay Area artists virtually open their studios in 2020. Jill created her ‘Moroccan Sketchbook’ series during this 4-hour GOLD event.
2020’s Shelter In Place series exhibited in the 12th Annual 50|50 Show at Sanchez Art Center, in Pacifica, CA.
Sacre Rouge, is a self-portrait of stunning strength; acrylic on canvas, 4.5’ wide x 14’ tall. Exhibited in 2012, ‘Honoring Women’s Rights’ at the National Steinbeck Center, in Salinas, CA.
In Crimson, a 2003 solo exhibit at Art 21 Gallery, Palo Alto, CA.