Artist Profile: Jorge Antonio Saenz

Based in Virginia Beach, Jorge Antonio Saenz is an award-winning artist who specializes in Abstract Art and Mixed Media. He currently teaches at The Virginia Beach Art Center as well as in his private studio. At The Charles H. Taylor Visual Arts Center, his work Penumbra is on display in the Artists Who Teach 2020 Exhibition.

Describe your art journey...

"My first recollection of art was when I was about four years old, drawing a purple glass bowl full of oranges in my childhood home in San Francisco.

From there on my parents nourished my artistic interest with countless art exhibits, art classes, and museum trips as well as with theater plays, musicals and the occasional opera at The San Francisco Opera House.

It was only natural that architecture is what I chose to study while at college. The courses offered several fine art classes needed to complete my education.

As a young adult my training and interest drew me into the world of retail and merchandise design. Especially enamored with the idea of designing windows and displays, for me was the perfect fit. Throughout my career I was always surrounded by artists that assisted with our designs and  ideas and with whom I was able to continue to nurture my artistic vein.

I never stopped painting, and continually would create large scale art mainly inspired by such amazing artists like Helen Frankenthaler, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko. I was fortunate enough to live across the Rothko Chapel at one point in Houston, Texas, where I spent countless hours admiring his large scale panels.

I have now had my studio here in Virginia Beach for several years, where I continue to paint large scale pieces in series which is one of my main passions. Mixed media entered into my work a few years back and I enjoy layering crayons, pencil, graphite, oil and pastels into my work. Asemic writing, organic geometric shapes and markings litter a lot of my canvases, which begin on a wall before being stretched and completed in my studio.

It is in my studio where I teach the most, mainly through private tutoring as well as the group classes I have offered at The Virginia Beach Art Center. I enjoy watching my students discover abstract art and the endless possibilities it can offer; I consistently learn new approaches from watching them develop their own skills. Just like one of art my teachers many years ago advised me, just paint, it doesn’t matter what others think, just what you think.

Most recently cold wax and mixed media have been a medium I have been teaching myself. What I love the most about this process is the freedom you have as an artist to create with the medium. My entry for Artists Who Teach is a cold wax and mixed media triptych called Penumbra (above).

For the past several years I have been entering local and regional art exhibits where I have been honored with several awards.

Most recently my work won Most Creative at The Notes of Color Exhibition in February 2020 as well as the Most Creative at the La Femme Exhibition in March 2020 both at The Virginia Beach Art Center.

Currently I am in three exhibits which can be viewed virtually at VBAC, La Femme, Pandemic 20 and Waterways. Collectors can also view my work on my website: texturalabstracts.com or via my Instagram: texturalabstract.art where I post videos and how to’s for my followers."

Image Credits: Threaded Connection (detail; top), profile photo provided by Jorge Antonio Saenz (top right), Peonies (left), Penumbra (right), and Terrain (bottom).