Jill Mayberg: Painting Good Cheer

I have a dog. And not just any dog, but a beagle. And not just any beagle, but a surrogate beagle -- a stand-in for the lovable, devoted, irascible, barking, bolting, BITING beagle that we brought into our home as a puppy and returned to the breeder two years later. Oh, we were so full of hope for the wonderful companion that Harley was going to be! And the day I put him in his portable crate and loaded him into the back end of the breeder’s car -- never to be seen again -- was, quite literally, one of the saddest that I can remember. (Ever give up on a dog? It feels really lousy.) Fortunately, a couple of months later, I met artist Jill Mayberg at Art in the Pearl in Portland, and brought home my new “beagle” who greets me daily from my kitchen wall.

Acrylic on canvas

Image courtesy of Jill Mayberg - all rights reserved

Even now, nearly three years later, this painting continues to bring a smile to my face and only the fondest memories of Harley to my mind and heart. Jill’s paintings just have that kind of effect on people. They’re as cheerful and colorful as can be, with interesting layers, variations in surface dimension and quality, and small and intriguing collaged and painted elements within the larger compositions.

Acrylic on canvas
Image courtesy of Jill Mayberg - all rights reserved

Acrylic on canvas

Image courtesy of Jill Mayberg - all rights reserved

Acrylic on canvas

Image courtesy of Jill Mayberg  - all rights reserved

Jill’s a full-time, self-supporting painter who travels to shows around the country annually. And although she lives just across the border, in Washington, I think of her as being a Portland artist because she participates in so many shows here.

Acrylic on canvas

Image courtesy of Jill Mayberg - all rights reserved

A nature and animal lover, Jill says she finds much inspiration while on her daily walks and that her ideas have "evolved over the years from a confluence of traditions such as primitive folk art, expressionism, and abstract modernism. "

Acrylic on canvas

Image courtesy of Jill Mayberg - all rights reserved

Although I don’t yet own one of Jill’s original works, I have two of her prints and I have frequently displayed a half-dozen of her greeting cards on a shelf because they are so lovely en masse. Visit Jill's Etsy shop,  and her new blog to see more of her work and to find out where she’ll be showing next.