Jeff Markowsky’s paintings begin with an intimate and direct relationship to nature through painting outdoors in the open air (en plein air). From these oil sketches Markowsky investigates and extrapolates the power of large abstract shape relationships in the studio through a more synthesized internal process.
Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada, Markowsky’s education as a painter began in graduate school with Gregory Crane and then with Frank Mason at the Art Students League in New York City. You will often find him in the summers hiking the Appalachian Trail or traveling on a plein air painting excursion while camping out in his truck.
Markowsky recently won the Grand Prize at the 3rd Annual Saint Augustine Plein Air Festival in 2019. He was the 2018 Grand Prize winner of the Lighthouse Art Center 5th Annual Plein Air Festival in Tequesta Florida and returned in 2019 as judge. He won ‘Best Water’ category for the 2019 January/February Plein Air Salon. He is a member of The Oil Painters of America and was juried in to the 2019 Eastern Regional Exhibition in McBride Gallery in Annapolis, Maryland. Markowsky currently teaches and has taught at the Savannah College of Art and Design since 1999. He lives in Saint Augustine Florida with his wife Jackie and their doberman Ziggy.
“Plein air painting is a natural source of joy for me. It combines my childhood passions of painting and my love for nature into one. Painting outdoors is where I confront the truth. The direct and immediate response to my surroundings allows me to connect with the moment and tap into pure potential. For me this is very similar to meditation, only with a very tangible result, that of the final expression, the painting itself.” – JM
