Jessie Rasche grew up in Seattle, WA where she spent much of her childhood in her mom’s community of artists, watching their art-making techniques. This early experience nurtured her love of art-making, and gave her an admiration for artistic skill. Rasche studied at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, and later earned a bachelors’ degree in Psychology from the University of Oregon.
Ten years ago Jessie moved to South Dakota with her family, and began focusing her artwork on groups of animals in wide-open landscapes, which reflect her love for the beautiful land around her and her spiritual interest in the connection between living things.
Rasche is an internationally collected painter with 9 paintings in public collections, and her artwork has been published in several magazines and newspapers. Jessie is an exhibiting member of Oil Painters of America and an award-winning member of the American Impressionist Society. In addition to painting full time, Jessie teaches online drawing and painting workshops for artists and art groups.
Meet the Artist
What is the furthest you have traveled for your art/plein air? This event will be! I'm coming from almost 14 hours away in South Dakota. My previous furthest plein air adventure was 8 hours up to the plein air event in Grand Marais, Minnesota, and 6 hours over to Custer South Dakota to collect photos for a studio painting project.
Can you share a fond, or unusual, memory of plein air painting? One of my favorite things about plein air painting is that every painting has an adventure behind it!
At the AIS paint-out in Omaha, we got early access to the zoo (which is world class, and the animals all look happy). AIS artists got to paint while the zoo staff were doing behind the scenes zoo things… That was amazing.
Closer to home, I have been painting on the dirt roads in the farm and ranch-land around our house. I wanted to paint outside a horse ranch but didn't want to make the owners uncomfortable so I called and let them know what I would be doing - and they were very inviting. While I was painting, the rancher drove out to me to let me know that that cute little horse I was painting had literally been born the day before. That was really wonderful.
What is a recent thing that you painted or drew a picture of? I'm working right now on a painting of the Badlands of South Dakota. It's a unique landscape and I'm really trying to understand the colors and shapes of the area.
What is your favorite plein air subject, location or time of the year to plein air paint? I love painting light effects - really foggy conditions, bright clear conditions, the sun shining right on something... More than anything, the atmosphere is my subject.
What is something that looks fun that you want to try? Making my own oil paints.
