Jenny Somers Biography

Jenny Somers, a native Chincoteague artist, has been drawing and painting for most of her life. As a teenager, she sketched pastels of her younger sister and later painted decoys handcarved by her father Jimmie Thornton.
It wasn't long before she moved up to fine art as a better way to express herself and to share the abundance of wildlife around her with others.
She painted for eight hours a day, making her living as an artist until the mid 1980's when she decided to pursue a career in drafting. For the next five years she worked for a construction firm in Pocomoke City, Maryland, painting only in her spare time. Drafting provided a steady income, but Jenny felt unsatisfied. In the summer of 1989 she left drafting, opened Bayside Arts and returned to art full-time.

Jenny also spends the spring and fall seasons as a nature interpreter for Elder Hostel at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, soaking up the wildlife scenery and gathering details of the birds that are destined to be seen in her works. She paints in realistic style, using either watercolor or acrylic. She also does pen and inks, which become the basis for hand-tinted prints. She has spent years developing her technique of layered transparent glazes. Her choice of subject matter is not surprising; it merely reflects the world around her. She also carves decoys, sews, and produces many other crafts.

Jenny can be found guiding tours on Assateague Island, providing beading and painting demonstrations, and displaying her artwork at various local art shows.
Here are a few of the places you might find Jenny:

~The Art Show at
Assateague Lighthouse Oil Shed
Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge
Assateague Island, Virginia
Various dates between April and October

~Ocean City Convention Center Wildlife & Nautical Art Show
Ocean City, Maryland
Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend

~Chincoteague Carvers and Artists Association Show
Chincoteague Island, Virginia
Labor Day Weekend

~Second Saturdays
Art Stroll on Chincoteague
Chincoteague Island, Virginia
Every second Saturday between April and December

~Raptor Research Foundation annual conference
Allentown, Pennsylvania
September 12-16

~Deborah Wildlife Art Show
Chincoteague Island, Virginia
November