Bio
Jessie Rasche is a professional artist who has been painting since childhood. She grew up in Seattle, where as a small child she would accompany her artist mother to the Pike Place Market where her mom had an art booth. Jessie would pass the time by running errands for artists (mostly getting them coffee). Artists would occasionally give Jessie a little art lesson in thanks, which Jessie absolutely loved.
Since then, on her curvy path, she has attended art school, then studied psychology and general sciences, and worked briefly in scientific illustration before becoming a “media developer” at Microsoft.
In 2007 Jessie left Microsoft and started developing her career as a professional artist, and in 2013 she moved to South Dakota with her family. Living in a rural landscape surrounded by cow pastures, small horse ranches, and flocking birds, inspired her to begin a series of paintings about focusing on groups of animals, and how they connect to each other and the land.
Through a painterly use of oils, Jessie expresses a love of the materials as well as the subject matter. She still regularly takes workshops from artists she admires, and tries to pass on that joyful enthusiasm about art making in the workshops she teaches.
Rasche’s artwork hangs in private collections across the United States and Canada, and overseas – and in public spaces including hospital buildings, art center permanent collections, and government buildings.
Jessie is an exhibiting member of Oil Painters of America and the Outdoor Painters of Minnesota, an award-winning member of the American Impressionist Society, and a 2022 Southwest Art Magazine “Artist to Watch”. Her paintings have been published in Plein Air Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, Southwest Art Magazine, and more.
Memberships
- AIS – American Impressionist Society
- OPA – Oil Painters of America
- NOAPS – National Oil and Acrylic Painters’ Society
- OPM – Outdoor Painters of Minnesota
- 2022 signature member of the Artists of the Black Hills
Selected Education
- Roos Schuring, plein air challenge, 2022
- Qiang Huang, painting workshop, 2021
- Colley Whisson, impressionist painting class 2018-19
- Anna Youngers, portrait drawing workshop 2017
- Robert Gagberg, OPA, ASMA, painting workshop 2016
- Stan Miller, watercolor workshop, 2012
- University of Oregon, B.S. Psychology 1997
- Pacific Northwest College of Art 1989-91
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.
Press Coverage and Information for Publications
SHORT BIO
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.
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 an award winning member of the American Impressionist Society.
.