Jill Soukup

Jill's family moved to Colorado from Buffalo, New York during her early childhood, and Colorado is still her home. Interested in art from a young age, she spent her childhood on many creative projects with her brother. These included large-scale dinosaur cut-outs, life-sized snow ponies, sculptures made of casting gauze from her parents' veterinary clinic, and clay animation captured on 8mm film. Her affinity for horses resulted in countless drawings and studies, which led to a solid drawing foundation and an understanding of animal anatomy. As a teen, Jill started a pet portrait business and acquired jobs painting murals, and designing logos. My early art experiences consisted of school classes, much self-determination and learning, and abundant encouragement from my parents and teachers. I'd known all along that art was my life's path, yet I also recognized that I thrived in a well-rounded environment. I was keen to the fact that athletics and academics fed and often synchronized with my creative work. I chose Colorado State University for its traditional graduation requirements and strong design program. I received awards for illustration and design and worked as an illustrator for the campus daily newspaper and as a graphic designer for the Residence Hall's programming team. After graduating from CSU with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1991, Jill pursued a career in graphic design for 11 years, cultivating the principles of good design, computer proficiency, and business skills. By the age of 30, Jill began the process of a career change. After three years of juggling both design and oil painting, she left the commercial art world to pursue fine art full time. Since then, her work has continued to gain recognition, receiving awards, appearing in national publications, and showing in important juried and one-woman exhibitions. Her work is also included in many private, corporate, and public collections. Jill was the featured artist at the Coors Western Art Exhibit and Sale in 2013. Her work is shown and discussed in the book Landscape Painting by Mitchell Albala. She was recently featured in Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, Artists Making Their Mark, November/December 2012 Issue.