Jacqueline

Hamel

Jackie Hamel is a fine artist whose practice combines drawing, painting, and printmaking, often shifting across mediums to spark new ideas and approaches. Guided by experimentation, she embraces accidents, revisions, and reinvention as essential parts of the creative process. Raised in a large family, she began making her own games, gifts, and even built her first easel at the age of nine. Encouraged by her father, a photolithographer, she had early access to art materials and developed a lifelong love of making. She went on to earn a BA in Graphic Design and a BFA in Drawing, studying across disciplines including printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, painting, and calligraphy. After early gallery exhibitions, she paused her art career to raise her two sons while building a successful career in graphic design, marketing, and sales. She has since returned to fine art as her primary focus, drawing on her wide-ranging background to develop a body of work that is both rigorous and exploratory. Inspired by artists such as Dürer, Rembrandt, da Vinci, Goya, and Picasso, she continues to pursue the tension between control and spontaneity, tradition and invention.

I grew up in a large family where creativity often replaced what we couldn’t buy. From homemade games, gifts, and my first easel, making things by hand became second nature. My father worked as a photolithographer, so art supplies were always around, and I learned early on to explore and experiment. Each time I create, I think of Picasso’s words: “Every act is first an act of destruction.” My process embraces tactical trials, chance discoveries, and even errors, which often guide me to unexpected outcomes. When a piece begins to feel too predictable or controlled, I switch media to reignite curiosity and risk. My work spans drawing, painting, and printmaking, each medium fueling the others. Like many artists, my influences could fill volumes. Some of the masters who continue to inspire me are Dürer, Rembrandt, da Vinci, Goya, and Picasso. A quote attributed to Leonardo da Vinci often grounds me in moments of doubt: “I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have.” For me, that sentiment captures both the humility and the relentless striving at the heart of being an artist.

Acrylic, Charcoal, Acrylic(Duplicate__1), Charcoal(Duplicate__1), Drawing, Mixed Media, Oil / Alkyd, Pastels/Oil Pastels, Pen/Ink, Printmaking, Watercolor/Gouache

https://jackiehamel.com

'@jackie.hamel