Jami Tobey

Jami Tobey (born 1974) is an American contemporary painter.
Early years
Jami was born in Corvallis, Oregon, and spent most of her childhood in Santa Fe, New Mexico, as one of three children of Toni Williams and Gene Tobey. Her father spent his professional life working as a sculptor best known for stylized animal sculptures with his trademark line drawings incised into the surface.
As a child, Jami spent hours in her father's studio where she was exposed to a variety of styles and sculpting techniques. Jami has said that her father encouraged her to follow her own path as an artist and to paint. By the time she was 14, she had sold her first piece at a Santa Fe art auction. She has said that New Mexican artist Georgia O'Keeffe was an early inspiration. Jami attended Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, where she intended pursue her interest in literature and journalism. During her freshmen year, she entered an oil painting course and decided to double major in English and art. During the next three years, she worked extensively in oils and watercolors, focusing primarily on landscapes.
Style
Jami is known primarily for her tree and landscape paintings. Her signature style includes vast skies and swirling clouds. Jami usually has two or three paintings going at once in her home studio in Murrieta, California. Depending on size and complexity, each piece takes anywhere from a few days to two weeks to complete. She begins the process by combing through photos and sketches made during family travels. Jami has said that 50 drawings might lead to 10 paintings. During the painting process, Jami first paints the primary object, be it a mountain, farmhouse or a tree, and then finishes with the foreground. Then she adds her characteristic outlines and dots and swirls and patterns with gold ink. During 2011, Jami began experimenting with more abstract works, which were first featured at Adagio Galleries.
Acclaim
Jami's paintings have been commissioned for public and private collections in the United States and internationally. She currently shows at several galleries, mainly in the southwestern United States.
Leanne Goebel, a member of the International Association of Art Critics, said Jami's tree paintings hearken back to the Art Nouveau style of Gustav Klimt. "What sets Tobey apart is her playful and colorful palette reflecting her roots throughout the American west … More than contemporary pastiche, Jami Tobey creates painted tapestries of light, color and land." Los Angeles Times art critic Holly Myers says the paintings of Jami Tobey are statements about nature's deep beauty and the language of color and light. "Borne of equal parts observation and imagination, the paintings of Jami Tobey reverberate — indeed, almost buzz — with the dynamic energy of the Western landscape," Myers said. "Sprawling vistas, billowing cloudscapes, far-flung farm houses, and trees as unique and memorable as old friends, all rendered in her own spirited blend of vivid color and charismatic line."

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