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Jennifer L. Willis grew up in San Diego, California. She started taking private art lessons at age ten and then majored in art in College. Her early work was in oil and acrylic. Her residence in various areas of the United States and Mexico has enabled her to find different emotions in art. She took up Glass Art in 2001.


“My preferred painting style was German Expressionistic. I loved the dark lines and bold colors. I started selling pieces when I was ten years old, but as the years went by my emotional attachment to my work made it impossible for me to part with them. My collaboration with my husband, Stephen, in Glass Art, has again enabled me to share my work with a larger audience. I've gained a new emotional satisfaction from seeing how others respond to this work.”


Stephen T. Willis, a multi-talented artist and craftsman, grew up in San Antonio, Texas, and has lived in Europe and on both coasts of the United States. He is a Veteran of the first Gulf War and has lead an adventurous life, including a stint as a traveling-aid for a presidential candidate.


“I'm a self-taught cartoonist who has steadily grown into a more versatile composer of traditional line drawings. But my first love was the caricature. I took four years of art in High School, but my passion for drawing people doing funny things survived, even as my skills diversified. I still have a hankering to do political cartoons. The mere sight of a politician gets my caricature juices flowing. Glass Painting keeps my twisted world-view balanced.”



Our Collaboration:
Jennifer met Steve. They married, moved from San Diego to Northern Virginia to work on a presidential campaign in 1999, and began mixing their artistic talents in their off hours. At first they worked in several mediums and styles, but discovered the potential of glass while turning a trunk into a coffee table.

Klimt and his method of moving the subject to the background through a weird mosaic of shapes and colors, provided early inspiration, resulting in many “variations on a theme by Klimt.” The Willis' have been heard to say... "We have always wanted to see our favorite famous art pieces in glass. The way the glass makes it glow and ignites the colors, it just does not do them justice in photographs or on the web."

Steve and Jen initially created Glass Art only for themselves, but soon people started clamoring to own their very own "Willis Glass Art", and the collaboration became a public one in 2001.

Collections:
Willis Glass Artworks hang in several public and private spaces across the country.
In Northern Virginia they can be seen at the Back-To-Health Center in Old Town Alexandria, Eclectic Nature in Del Ray VA, INOVA Blood Donor Services in Woodburn, and St. Elmo’s Coffee Pub in Del Ray.
In Maryland at Dr Joseph Farone LCSW office.
Stranko Chiropractic in CT.
They are newly located in Oregon at Forinash Gallery in Newport Beach, and at Oak Grove Coffeehouse in Oak Grove.
You may also find them in private homes on the East and West Coast.

Several pieces have been donated to silent auctions, specifically SARA, Friends of the Children and the Alexandria Animal Shelter.

Available:
The Willis Glass Art is available for commissions, shows, silent auctions, and private collections. Please contact them for any questions or comments.