About Jen

Jen Allen – Independent Commercial Fine Artist

Jen Allen is a UK-based acrylic and oil painter who has dedicated herself to her artistic profession since graduating from the Bournemouth Institute of Art in 2000. 

Jen’s high impact paintings are influenced by her history of working within the arts as an illustrator, designer, set painter, prop maker, muralist and even on a circus stage, where she painted portraits to music in minutes before a live audience.

Projects have ranged from a 15ft tiger painting for a gala event; painting portraits of the cast of ‘Coronation Street’ on the ITV set; a portrait commission of the Princess of Jordan, to a series of abstract paintings for a luxury spa hotel in Barbados.

Jen has exhibited in prestigious galleries and on-board luxury cruise-liners, both in the form of group and solo shows. Her clients include celebrities, rock stars and royalty.

Artist's Statement

I mostly work in acrylic paint as I enjoy the immediacy and practicality of this medium. However, in my latest work I have also been layering collage paper, areas of oil painting, paint pens and using alternative painting tools such as rollers, brayers and spatulas.

I appreciate the way different mediums work together and against each other creating contrasts in textures, colours, edges and styles. I feel this all affects the way the image is read and makes an otherwise static canvas come alive with energy and excitement.

I enjoy creating sketches and studies before committing a work to canvas. These development pieces capture a moment in time. I feel these pieces have a unique energy in them through their intriguing unfinished nature and in creating them, fosters spontaneity and reveals the story in my chosen subject.

The energy and stories discovered in my sketches, I then translate into my final paintings. Unfinished areas and interesting mistakes, such as clashes of colour, misalignments, spills and drips, all shape my final works.