FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE OF THE CAPE PENINSULA, SOUTH AFRICA 

to

THE SONORAN DESERT OF ARIZONA 

Jennifer's inspiration in the natural world had its beginnings in Cape Town, South Africa, country of her birth. Life took her to the forests, the mountains, and the ocean. Cape Town,  with it's backdrop of Table Mountain, straddles two oceans - the warm Indian ocean, and the colder Atlantic ocean, a spectacular peninsular at the tip of the continent of Africa.

When she married a farmer, she moved a hundred miles to the family farm, Pomona on top of Piketberg mountain. Farming at 3000 feet above sea level was a perfect place for growing deciduous fruit such as apples, peaches and pears. 

She loved to walk in the veld and pick indigenous proteas, ericas (heather), and fynbos that grow in the wild. Her first garden was significant to her daily life on the farm. Wherever she has lived gardening inspires her love of nature and art. Jennifer says: " Painting a picture needs planning, thinking about juxtaposition of color, texture, and form just like planting a garden."

For the past 40 years Phoenix, Arizona, has been home to Jennifer and her family, a dramatic contrast from the Mediterranean climate to the Sonoran Desert. The open landscape with surrounding mountains brought new discoveries of desert plants. She owes much of her art to the sculptural forms of the magnificent saguaros, cacti and succulents that when in bloom, boast the most vivid colors imaginable.