I began drawing people on the Jersey Shore at around 4 years old.
In grade school I shifted my focus in to wanting to become a Fashion Illustrator for the New York Times.
I took every art class in my High School and won an award for a Halloween window contest. I graduated as Best Female Artist in my High School.
I took 2 summers of Art at Parsons School of Design in between my Senior year and the summer before I started as a full time Communications student at Parsons. During my senior High School year I took a Writing and Illustrating Children's Books class at Parsons.
I took a Black and White Photography class and loved developing film. I was lucky enough to be shooting with my family camera a Zeiss Ikon. While attending Parsons my interest shifted from Commercial Art to Fashion Design. I took an Illustration class that next summer.
Confused about my focus I let go of art for a little a while and focused on working with children and their art. I moved up state NY and volunteered as a Preschool Art Teacher at the Arnot Art Museum.
Eventually I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology for Fashion Design. I studied for 2 semesters and then created a portfolio of 'better dresses'. My portfolio was received well but there were no designing jobs available.
I headed out to Los Angeles to try to get in to costuming for film. I ended up creating another portfolio and was received well at my Cal-Mart interview. My life then took an immediate familial turn (I had a daughter.*).
Another move to Central Florida to raise my daughter near family and eventually I would pick up a camera again but this time I chose Nikon. I worked many years as a freelance commercial photographer in many respects: weddings, engagements, advertising, and in portrait studios. I was part of an advertising team that won 2 Tampa Bay Addy Awards. Eventually the chaos of balancing so many freelance/part time jobs had to end as my daughter was in college and that was my focus.
I then became a flickr member (Jen's Photography http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenphotography/) and now shoot for the sheer passion of the art. I have traveled a little and was lucky enough to live back in a northern state so I got to shoot winters. And now I am shooting in this beautiful Austin Texas!*
Jennifer Holcombe joined Pixels.com Licensing on August 12th, 2012.
