BIOGRAPHY OF JENNIE MARTIN TOMLIN

 

A native of Cabarrus county, Jennie became interested in art as a young girl. She studied art in high school, was a Commercial art major at Virginia Commonwealth University and graduated with a Bachelor of Creative Arts degree at UNC Charlotte. Her work experiences include free lance artist, fabric design artist for Carolina Textile Engravers and layout artist for TV Guide magazine.

 

She became the wife of a military journalist/pilot and spent the next 15 years until his death raising a family and traveling throughout the world with her husband on assignments. After his death in 1970, Jennie completed her art training at UNCC opened a frame shop/gallery in Harrisburg and began teaching group classes and classes for Rowan Tech. In 1980 she was remarried to Dr. E M "Tommie" Tomlin and together they now have 15 grandchildren and almost four greatgrandchildren, all of whom are works of art!

 

Jennie currently has gallery space at 21 Union St in Concord and her own Gallery, studio and classroom in Harrisburg and teaches multiple classes in watercolor, pastel and drawing. She is a member of the Cabarrus Arts Guild, Cabarrus Arts Council, NC Watercolor Society and founding member of the newly formed “No Rules Plein Air Group”. She has had numerous one person exhibits over the years, the most recent being honored with a solo exhibit in April of 2008 – “Jennie Martin Tomlin Works in Retrospect” at the Cabarrus Arts Council Galleries at the historic Cabarrus Courthouse in Concord, NC. She was commissioned by the town of Harrisburg in 2007 to create a 6 x9 ft mural on canvases depicting historic sites in the Harrisburg, NC area. This mural resides in the Town Hall in Harrisburg.

 

Jennie has studied under regional as well as internationally known artists and her work is collected in homes and businesses locally as well as nationally and in Germany, New Zealand and Turkey. She is a past recipient of the Kokenes award for Proficiency in Visual and Creative Arts. Her work currently is focused on color and mood – striving to create a story, express an emotion.

 

Jennie may be contacted at 316 Hillcrest Drive, Harrisburg, NC 28075, jennie.tomlin@gmail.com, or jtomlin@carolina.rr.com, telephone 704-455-2020 and her website is www.jennietomlinartist.com with links to www.cabarrusartguild.org, www.cabarrusartscouncil.org.