Jeanne Kent - Jamaica Plain

JP resident uses words and paint to color the world by Janice Williams - as published in the Bulletin Newspapers March 25, 2004

Jeanne Kent is an artist who has spent every available minute pursuing art in different forms. Kent is a visual artist and a poet. Like most of us she has had to fit art into a life that included raising a family and working at a number of jobs including temping as secretary and cleaning houses. Kent admits that art is something that she has had to work at and not a natural talent. Her art work is a reflection of her philosophy on life, "Observe and appreciate because things are always changing and you might miss them forever. Don't let other people stop you from fulfilling your dreams".

Kent began writing poetry at the age of twelve. When asked how she got started she cited two inspirations: exposure to poetry in school and growing up with four brothers. She says that it was a way to get her thoughts out and be heard. Last year Kent received her second Bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing from UMASS Boston. She received her first Bachelor's degree in art from Massachusetts College of Art in 1989. Kent has written hundreds of poems. She has won awards and has been published. Her proudest award came from the Cambridge Art Association's "Image and Verse Show" in 1998 that won the Jurors Choice Award. The work was a self-portrait painting and a poem. Recently her poem "Stopping by a Yard in Boston on a Spring Morning" was published in the prestigious "Concrete Wolf" a Journal of Poetry, Issue 7 2003.

Whose yard this is I think I know
Her house is in the city, though;
She will not see me stopping here
To watch her yard begin to grow.

My little car must think it queer
To stop without a gas pump near
Between the yard and thawing Lake
The dampest morning of the year.

She gives her old engine a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of old straw broom and new bought rake.

The yard is lovely, dark and deep.
But I have appointments to keep.
And miles to go in this junk heap
And miles to go in this junk heap.

Kent's preferred medium for painting is watercolor because of its portability but she also works in acrylics, oils and collage. Lately she has been experimenting with chromacolor (a mix of watercolor and acrylic).  Her inspiration comes from nature and the world that surrounds her. Kent’s writing skill and passion is put to good use when she titles her paintings. Her wonderful sense of humor also comes into play. For an upcoming exhibit at Emack and Bolios in Roslindale for the month of April, Kent has given some titles that parody famous songs: "Good Red Vibrations", "Mellow Yellow Magnolias" and "Only the Lonely Paint in the Rain" to name a few.