About the Artist
Jenny Germann is a painter based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She holds an undergraduate degree in painting and a graduate degree in nonprofit management. Originally from Kansas, she relocated to Lancaster more than fifteen years ago, where she lives and works.
Germann works primarily on wood, combining burning with watercolor and gouache. Her practice emerged organically through proximity to woodworking materials and evolved into a sustained exploration of permanence, restraint, and material response. She is particularly interested in how water-based pigments interact with wood grain, allowing the surface to influence color, movement, and final form.
Her subject matter is rooted in observation and lived experience, often focusing on landscapes, interiors, and transitional spaces. Recent work explores moments of pause, choice, and quiet tension, emphasizing intentional mark-making alongside material unpredictability. Germann’s work has been exhibited in group and solo settings and reflects an ongoing interest in attentiveness, subtlety, and connection.
She is a wife and a mother of two and balances a professional career in nonprofit leadership with an active studio practice.
Artist Statement
I’m a painter by training, but I work primarily on wood. I came to it out of practicality and stayed because of the conversation it creates. Burning into wood is permanent. Once a mark is made, it can’t fully disappear. Even when sanded back, something remains.
Watercolor and gouache introduce a different kind of risk. The grain pulls pigment in ways I can’t fully control. Some areas resist, others absorb too much. I start with intention and leave room for the material to decide how far that intention can go.
I paint from observation. Landscapes, interiors, and occasional portraits come from moments that hold emotional weight for me. My recent work focuses on transition and the space just before movement. I’ve limited my palette more than in past series, choosing restraint over saturation. The work is quieter, but more deliberate. It reflects a headspace shaped by choice and intention.
I’m interested in everyday moments where attention matters. I work carefully and allow the material to complicate the result.