Hi, I’m Jessie.
I paint the landscapes, animals, and people of the Midwest in a contemporary painterly style that celebrates the paint as well as the subject.
Most of my work is about connection: connection between moms and babies, connection between animals, and connection between us and the land.
Some of my work is purely an expression of my love for paint and the small things in our lives! Those are my still life paintings that are generally only seen by my newsletter subscribers.
I’ve shown in galleries, museums, and art centers in the West, Midwest, South and East USA, have 9 paintings in public collections, and have wonderful collectors in over 30 states, Canada, the UK, and the Isle of Man. Exhibiting member of Oil Painters of America and American Impressionist Society.
I love helping people find artwork that will bring them joy, and helping artists become more confident in painting! Contact me if you would like help in your art collecting or art making journey.
Awards
- Dec 2021 Daily Paintworks international competition, 3rd place
- Sept 2021 American Impressionist Society national exhibition wet wall competition, Best of Quarry
- Sep 2021 BAC annual open exhibit, 3rd place
- Feb 2021 Daily Paintworks international competition, 2nd place
- 2019 BoldBrush Painting Competition, 3 time winner of the jury’s favorite 15% of the entries (Oct, Jun, Feb)
- 2018 South Dakota Governor’s 8th Biennial Art Exhibition, jury accepted
- November 6, 2018 South Dakota Art Museum, invited to exhibit
- 2018 Brookings Arts Council, 3rd place
- 2016-2017 South Dakota and National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Career Development
- 2013 Brookings Arts Council, 1st place
- 2013 Oil Painters of America, jury accepted
Public Collections
- “Careful Grace” aquired 2021. Center for Western Studies’ collection for public display, Augustana, Sioux Falls, SD
- “Social Hour I” donated 2020. Johnson Fine Art Center’s collection for public display, NSU, Aberdeen, SD
- “Winter” “Spring” “Summer” and “Fall” acquired 2018. Sanford Memorial Garden, Sioux Falls, SD
- “Space” and “Sheep Farm” acquired 2017. Edith Sanford Breast Center, Sioux Falls, SD
- “My Wild Heart” acquired 2016. South Dakota state public collection, Pierre, SD
Memberships
- American Impressionist Society
- Oil Painters of America
- NOAPS
- Outdoor Painters of Minnesota
- South Dakota Artists Alliance
- 2022 signature member of the Artists of the Black Hills
Selected Education
- Roos Schuring, plein air challenge, 2022
- Qiang Huang, painting workshop, 21
- Colley Whisson, impressionist painting class 18-19
- Anna Youngers, portrait drawing workshop 17
- Stan Miller, watercolor workshop, 12
- University of Oregon, B.S. Psychology 97
- Pacific Northwest College of Art 89-91
Publications & Press
- 2022 – “An Honest Artist” Sept/Oct issue of South Dakota Magazine. 6 page article about my artwork
- 2022 – Plein Air Magazine Ad, Oct, Dec
- 2022 – “Artist to Watch: Jessie Rasche” Feb/Mar 2022, Southwest Art Magazine
- 2021 – interview by Lori Walsh of In The Moment on SDPB
- 2021 – First presenter for the South Dakota Art Museum Governor’s Exhibition artists. Cocktail Hour Chat #1 | Karen Kinder, Jessie Rasche and Paul Peterson – YouTube
- 2020 – Artwork behind Julie Gerberding on her home office wall during Congressional testimony, on CNN and ABC, Aspen Institute, World Economic Forum, etc.
- 2020 – Artwork shown – Living in a COVID-19 world | Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (minneapolisfed.org)
- Nov/Dec 2019 – New print series shown in South Dakota Magazine gift guide
- December 2019 – Art talk by South Dakota Landscape Artist Jessie Rasche at JFAC Gallery on December 10th – Apeksha News
- November 2019 – Solo show at JFAC Gallery announced in Aberdeen News, South Dakota Arts
- August 2nd, 2019 – Sioux Falls art gallery celebrates exhibit by Brookings painter Rasche
- The Brookings Register
- Art Food Home, featured artist on June 17th, 2019
- South Dakota Magazine, Spring 2019
- Cover of Limes and Compromise by Erika Saunders, published March 2019
- South Dakota Magazine, included in South Dakota Art Museum advertisement, Winter 2018
- South Dakota Magazine, article about my commissioned artwork for Sanford Hospital, Fall 2018
- Oakwood Literary Magazine, published two paintings, Summer 2018
- South Dakota Art Magazine, Fall 2017
- Hood Magazine, Sioux Falls SD, November 2017
- Minnesota Monthly, September 2017
- The Brookings Register, cover story, April 18, 2016
- South Dakota Magazine section opener! 2015
- South Dakota Magazine winter issue, 2014
- Interested in Impact, Spokesman Review newspaper, 2010
- Behind the Paint, 2012
Selected Publication Titles
- “Work of Brookings Artist Featured in NSU Exhibit” The Brookings Register, page 7, December 9th, 2019
- “Jessie Rasche’s Healing Art.” South Dakota Magazine, fall 2018
- “Carrier” and “abstract” Oakwood Literary Magazine, published two paintings, 2018
- “Painter, Teacher, Mentor” The Brookings Register, page 1, April 18, 2016
- “Main Street Grain Elevator” painting used as art section opener, South Dakota Magazine, 2015
- “Behind the Paint,” Pacific Northwest Inlander, article about a group exhibition, May 16, 2012
- “Interested in Impact,” Spokesman Review, article about my exhibition, 2010
Selected Quotes About My Artwork
“In March of 2020, the world fell still as the pandemic sent us into isolation. For more than a year, we shunned our natural need to connect with those around us for the greater good. Now, as we take the first cautious steps out of solitude, it’s time to celebrate the Un-Still Life.
The Center for Western Studies is excited to present Un-Still Life: The Artwork of Jessie Rasche. This gallery exhibition of figure work observes a reemergence of life as we deal with the aftermath of the Covid pandemic. The exhibition opens November 15, 2021, and runs through February 11, 2022.
With her bold brushwork and ethereal edges, Jessie Rasche’s figure work leaps off the canvas with an energy that a quarantine-weary population craves. You’ve never seen the everyday world around you so brilliantly expressed.
While exploring the tableau of the world around us, it’s her rendering of the human form in the act of being human that makes Rasche’s work so dynamic. As she explains, “The paintings are about life, movement, or socializing.”
Along with Rasche’s work in human form, several works in the exhibit examine the movement of animals interacting with the environment.
Un-Still Life: The Artwork of Jessie Rasche runs from November 15, 2021, through February 11, 2022. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Viewing hours are Monday–Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibition is located in the Madsen/Nelson/Elmen Galleries of the Center’s Fantle Building at 2121 South Summit Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD.” – Kristi Thomas, 2021 Curator for the Center for Western Studies
“She likes to illustrate an image or emotion with patterns and gestures, many brush strokes that add up to a finished piece,” writes Jennifer Larue, Arts Reporter for the Spokesman Review. “When you step close to one of her paintings, you can see deliberate strokes of color, and when you step back, the colors blend and become whole, encompassing the viewer with a moment of beauty.”
“There is a somewhat Romantic or nostalgic quality to [Rasche’s painting],” writes Greg Blair, PhD, BAC 2018 juror of awards & former Northern Galleries Director “but it is not overly idealized or accentuated to the point of artifice or disbelief. Instead the landscape is rendered as endearing in its straight forward candor and naturalness.”
“I love painting the affection animals have for each other”, said Jessie. “Right outside town there are cows and horses and birds. Every time I see these animals, it makes me happy. I try to capture that joy in my art, so that my paintings will bring others happiness as well.”
“For me, your art tells a little story” says Manya, co-owner of Maje Gallery. “Each painting is like a little story poem that sets my mind dreaming about the details surrounding the piece. I also love how you celebrate farm life, with miles between homes and vast spaces being used for farming or ranching. It reminds us city dwellers (although I hail from farm life myself) that things are very different in the rural parts of our country, with their own beauty.”
“Jessie Rasche is a talented emerging artist with vigorous raw energy.” wrote James Hill, owner of Second Space Gallery, Spokane WA
Interview
Ashley Ragsdale, the Director of the Brookings Arts Council, interviewed me November 25th, 2019, for the Community Conversation video-cast. Check out all the Community Conversations on the Brookings Arts Council page.
Mentors
Gordon Gilkey, PNCA (art school) teacher, and advisor, 1989-91
At PNCA the (now) late printmaker Gordon Gilkey was my mentor and was incredibly inspiring, and I adored him and his passion for prints. He had a great collection of prints which I believe he donated to the Portland Art Museum. He let me hold an original Picasso print on one of our adventures perusing his collection. He handed the print to me and at one glance I knew what it was… I remember the sensation of holding something so special.
Kenneth O’Connell, University of Oregon, Animation teacher and advisor, 1999-2000
Ken taught me about animation, but most importantly told me to work at my art every day.
Short Bio for publication
Jessie is a professional artist, painting and teaching (online) from her studio in South Dakota. Her work focuses on landscapes full of animals, and people working and playing. The main theme of her work is personal connection between people, between animals, and with the land. Through a painterly use of oils, Jessie expresses a love of the materials as well as the subject matter.
Her work has shown in fine art galleries and museums in the West, Midwest, South, and East United States. She has paintings in public collections, and has wonderful collectors in over 30 states, Canada, the Isle of Man, and the UK.Jessie teaches online drawing and painting classes for beginning to professional level artists, and is an exhibiting member of Oil Painters of America and the American Impressionist Society.
Long Bio for publication
Jessie is a professional artist, painting and teaching from her studio in South Dakota. Her work focuses on landscapes full of animals and people working and playing.
The main theme of her work is personal connection between people, between animals, and with the land. Jessie loves the materials as well as the subject matter, and the result is artwork which is often described as both “painterly” and “comforting.”
Rasche studied Fine Art at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, and later earned a bachelors’ degree in Psychology from the University of Oregon, after which she continued taking art classes with master painters.
Nine years ago Jessie moved to a small Midwestern college town with her family, and began focusing her work on groups of animals in wide-open landscapes, which reflect her love for the land and her spiritual interest in the connection between living things.
“I want my work to capture the connection between animals, and to share that with the people who see my art. I hope it will bring people that soothing feeling that comes from being in this landscape, close to these animals” says Jessie.
Rasche is an internationally collected painter, an exhibiting member of Oil Painters of America, an award-winning member of the American Impressionist Society, a Signature Member of Artists of the Black Hills, and a Southwest Art Magazine “Artist to Watch”.
Jessie draws with her fans regularly on her YouTube show Draw with Jessie, and helps artists become more confident painters in her online workshops.
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