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Working in pen and ink with acrylic washes,
Jean Ekman Adams depicts animals in
unexpected settings and Southwest primitive
folk art of Native American children. Many
gallery exhibitions which featured her distinctive
pen and ink wash drawings, led her to bronze
sculptures of animals as well.
Jean was born in 1942 in Evanston, Illinois, and
studied at DePauw University. She received a
BA in English with an emphasis in writing
children's books from Arizona State University,
but didn't begin painting or writing
professionally until much later. Her father, Stan
Ekman, was a well-known artist who painted
western and landscape realism, as well as
magazine covers which often featured family
members, neighbors and Jean herself as models.
As a child, Jean was encouraged to express
herself artistically. She grew up in her father's
studio, watching him paint from the time she
was big enough to hang over the back of his
chair. She has the same penchant for details
that her father expressed in his painting,
however, she chose to pursue a whimsical
theme in her imagery. She even had five
exhibitions with her father.
Jean's series of delightful story-images features a
pig named Clarence and a purple-colored
horse. It was this series of charming artwork that
prompted people to ask Jean, "Is this a book?",
to which she eventually did. Finally, thirty years
after receiving her degree in English, she wrote
and illustrated the award-winning picture book
"Clarence Goes Out West and Meets a Purple
Horse". In it, Clarence goes out West and finds a
purple horse that he names Smoky. They
become good friends and share many
adventures together. This successful book was
the first in a series of three titles that Jean wrote
and illustrated, all revolving around the precious
pig and his four legged friend. Her scenes are
semi biographical; Jean has a friend named
Clarence and she often rides in the Arizona
desert with him and his horse named Smoky -
however, Smoky is not purple! The real Smoky is
a rescued horse, who now resides peacefully in
Tuscon, Arizona, where he can feel the breeze
in his mane and the raindrops on his ears.
Winner of many awards and an UNICEF artist for
1992, 1994, 1995 and a finalist for 1996, her work
appears in Christmas cards, graphic design and
textbook illustration.
Jean's paintings are light, clean, elegant and
very detailed in clear vibrant colors. Her
delightful paintings and bronzes are in
collections in the United States and in Europe.
The artist works in Arizona in the winter months
and in Colorado in the summer.
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