Colored pencil art isn’t just for elementary age students or the coffee and color gatherings of adults engaged in the fad of coloring books as grown-up therapy.
Just ask Hanneke Jevons, a Palm Coast artist specializing in the medium that is taking its rightful place among other art forms such as acrylic and watercolor painting as numerous professional improvements to colored pencils have been achieved in the past decade.
“The strong suit of (colored) pencil is that you can do anything with it,” Jevons said. “There are so many different brands and varieties of pencils now. You can use pencil to create detail that you cannot with paints and the colors you can create is unlimited by using layering.”
Since childhood, Jevons has focused on drawing. It’s been her passion for as long as she can remember. She loves to capture the lines of animals — domestic or wild — on paper. And while she enjoys creating colors with her pencils, she is also as adept with graphite that creates black and white images.
It was a series of black and white horse photos that helped her earn the coveted “Signature” award through the National Colored Pencil Society. Signature award means the artist is allowed to use the society’s acronym “CPSA” after their name when signing completed works.
In the world of colored pencils, this is a big deal. Only 250 people have earned the distinction that requires the artist’s work has been included in three international shows within a ten-year time period.
“It was a goal of mine to earn Signature,” Jevons said. “I just got mine in 2020.”
Her work has earned other recognition. In 2019 she was a finalist for the artist of the year award from the Garguilo Foundation, a Palm Coast-based organization supporting the local art scene.
As well as creating art, teaching others to create art is also a passion for Jevons.
Of course, in her years as an educator in the public school system, she taught all the art forms. But she was always drawn back to drawing — pardon the pun.
Now in retirement, she teaches from her home.
COVID-19 has put some restrictions on that. To protect her students — older, more immune, vulnerable adults — Jevons limits class size and requires vaccinations.
What she doesn’t do is charge for her classes. They are provided free of charge.
“I just love teaching,” she said. “There is just such joy in being creative.”
Learn more about Hanneke Jevons at her website: www.hannekejevonsartist.com