Nature Sustains, Stabilizes, & Inspires

Jeanne Simmons was born in coastal New Hampshire in 1964. She graduated from the Maine College of Art in 1991 with a BFA in Sculpture. She attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture the following summer. In 1992, Jeanne moved to Chicago to attend graduate school at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She moved to the Pacific Northwest shortly, eventually settling on Vashon Island, WA, where she met her husband, Gunter Reimnitz, a sculptor. Jeanne and Gunter moved to Port Townsend, WA, in 1999, where they raised their two beautiful kids. She has devoted her life to parenting and the creative process ever since.

Jeanne, did you always know you would be an artist?

I grew up admiring artists immensely, but I never believed I might be one or become one. Fortunately, I discovered a trail of breadcrumbs that eventually led me to art school in my early 20s. My time at the Maine College of Art and Design (formerly the Portland School of Art) was life-changing. It set me on a trajectory of curiosity, observation, and creative expression that has since defined my life. I briefly attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as a graduate student in sculpture in 1992. I quickly discovered that urban living was not conducive to my well-being. I followed my nose and intuition to the Pacific Northwest, where I have resided ever since and where the natural world inspires me. I walk the beaches, fields, marshes, and woods of the Olympic Peninsula daily, along with my canine companions who lead the way. My time in nature sustains, stabilizes, and inspires me. I hope to describe my devotion to and love of the natural world with my work.

I hope to communicate my belief that humans are an extension of the natural world, just as the natural world is an extension of us.

I hope to describe the possibility of a harmonious rapport between us and nature and to remind the viewer that there can be no “us” without “it.”

What is your art currently focused on?

The art I am making now is, in many ways, a product of my anxiety about climate change. I spend a great deal of time thinking about, worrying about, and losing sleep over the environmental changes we are already witnessing and the changes that are sure to come. Part of how I cope with this anxiety is to spend time in nature. I observe it, revel in it, embed myself in it, love it, and grieve in it if I have to. My experiences in nature heal me daily. I find my equilibrium there. When I manage to create something in nature that adequately describes my reverence for it, well, that is a perfect day and what I would describe as a peak experience. These experiences bring me joy and satisfaction, which help me to continue to show up in the face of all of life’s abominable tragedies with courage and purpose.

My mission is to describe and honor the interconnection between humanity and the natural world, as there can be no “us” without “it,” and we are treading precariously close to our demise. It is my personal belief (and mantra) that I am (we are) an extension of the natural world, and the natural world is an extension of me (us). My work strives to be a visual depiction of this sacred exchange. I hope to remind the viewer that we belong in nature and are part of nature’s very fabric.