Jennifer Kilgour

Jennifer Kilgour is a painter and illustrator.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, I studied a BA (Hons) in Visual Communications, Animation at Edinburgh College of Art, graduating in 1997. I then broadened my skills by undertaking an HND in Professional Photography at Glasgow College of Building & Printing, finishing in 2001. Following this, in 2006, I enrolled at Cyprus College of Art, Lempa, Cyprus, for the year-long Postgraduate Diploma of Fine Art, specialising in oil painting with a particular interest in the figure and portraiture.

My painting concentrates on the figure and face. I paint to create an image of what I see before me; a three-dimensional object transformed to a two dimensional form. I also enjoy the interaction between the portrait and viewer who ultimately creates a narrative behind the image; the stories people make up have encouraged me to make new work with a more narrative base. I mostly use a broad, expressive palette and brush stroke but this can change depending on where I am working. The bright light and explosive colour of Cyprus gave me reason to use bright colours in my work and on my return to Scotland I found I selected more muted tones. My challenge is to recreate the object I see before me into its new form, with its lines, tones and shapes tuned to a satisfactory conclusion. I love the form of the body and face and its appeal will never fade.

My illustration is of a more fanciful nature. It includes varied characters of people and places, faeries and animals as well as some others with a more surreallist form. My unpublished children's picture book can be viewed on my Flickr site. It is about two little pigs, brother and sister, Poodles and Pigsticks who use their imagination and objects they find to fly to the moon. Most of my illustration is suited to a young (or young at heart) audience, however my monochrome surreal images in pencil perhaps bridge the gap. I enjoy creating images with imagination and illusion and believe those who dismiss something at first glance can miss out on so much.

I hope you enjoy looking at my work which can be viewed easily by clicking on the Painting and Illustration links in the left hand side menu above. The redbubble link is where you can buy cards, prints and t-shirts of my images.

Now based in Glasgow, I am always looking for exhibition opportunities and welcome portrait and other commission requests. If you would like any further information please contact me through the Contact link above.